Sri Lanka, June 26 -- In a shocking disclosure, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said in Parliament yesterday that the country had lost as much as US $ 1 billion because of the transfer of a whopping Rs.300 billion ill-gotten cash in terms of Telegraphic Transfers and Advanced Payments for imports. He said that certain banks had been implicated in the fraudulent transactions.

"We have identified certain bank branches. When the manager of one branch was transferred to another, the same frauds had been carried out there," he said.

He said the country had lost a colossal amount of foreign exchange since 2023.

"Frauds have been committed in rupee terms. When it is transferred, it is an exchange loss," he said.

"We have arrested a few p...