Four suspects, including Chief Inspector Varuni Bogahawatta, who served as the Officer-in-Charge of administration at the Kotavila Police Station, have been remanded in custody. They were arrested by the Police Financial and Commercial Crime Investigation Division on money laundering charges.

After being produced before Matara Magistrate Chathura Dissanayake on the afternoon of the 3rd, the suspects were ordered to be remanded until this Friday, the 6th.

Key Points

  • Four suspects, including the Chief Inspector, remanded until this Friday, the 6th.
  • She had used a red Honda Vezel valued at nearly Rs 1.5 crore.
  • The suspects were produced before Matara Magistrate Chathura Dissanayake.

Honda Vezel valued at Rs 1.5 crore

Making submissions in court, officers pointed out that while the suspect's monthly salary was Rs 1.4 lakhs, the monthly lease instalment for the red Honda Vezel (bearing registration CBE 1874) she used, valued at nearly Rs 1.5 crore, was Rs 1.32 lakhs. Large sums of money had entered her bank accounts, and she had failed to prove the source of funds used to purchase the vehicle or pay the lease instalments.

Consequently, investigating officers took the vehicle into custody on 16 October.

Suspected links to cooperative scam

It is reported that information has surfaced indicating an individual linked to an alleged financial fraud at the Matara District Rural Bank Union and the Matara Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society had paid the lease instalments for the vehicle.

The former chairman of these institutions, Chaminda Gunasekara, faces allegations of financial misappropriation amounting to between Rs 500 crore and over Rs 1,000 crore, and was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department on 10 April 2026. In addition to this car, which was allegedly purchased with funds from the scam, police have also seized several other vehicles, including lorries.

Attorneys-at-law Saranga Wadasinha, Sameera Meekandawatta, Kasun Nanayakkara, Udisha Weeraratne, and Dinesh Gamage appeared in court on behalf of the suspect.

What happens next?

The Matara Magistrate directed the investigating officers to submit reports and the progress of the investigation into the case to the court on the 6th.