Overview

• Wickremesinghe was arrested after voluntarily appearing before the CID over a September 2023 London stopover to attend his wife’s university ceremony.
• Police submissions say the UK leg cost the state roughly Rs 16.9–17 million, including expenses for a 10-person entourage and state-funded security.
• He was produced before the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court, charged under Penal Code sections 386 and 388 and Section 5(1) of the Public Properties Act, and remanded until August 26.
• Prison officials said he was moved to the prison hospital with high blood sugar and blood pressure following his remand.
• He denies wrongdoing, asserting no public money was used and that his wife covered her own costs, as investigators also recorded statements from former aides Saman Ekanayake and Sandra Perera.