Sri Lanka CB checked all banks for NDB type fraud: Governor

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank checked all banks for fraud similar to that which occurred at the listed lender National Development Bank (NDB), its Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said. 

The NDB reported a misappropriation of 13.2 billion rupees amid allegations of systemic financial irregularities and the circumvention of established internal controls. 

Investigations focused on the unauthorized issuance of credit facilities and the manipulation of accounting records to facilitate significant fund outflows under the guise of legitimate commercial transactions. 

The incident raised serious concerns regarding corporate governance and the efficacy of legislative oversight within the banking sector, particularly concerning how such a substantial sum could be diverted without triggering immediate regulatory alarms. 

“We asked all the banks to check whether a similar kind of incident took place,” Weerasinghe told EconomyNext on Wednesday. 

He said no fraud has been reported from any other bank.

In response to the findings at NDB, there have been intensified calls for accountability and more stringent oversight by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to safeguard the financial system’s integrity and prevent the recurrence of such white-collar malpractices that threaten national economic stability.