Sri Lanka, May 4 -- The US $ 2.5 million cyber theft has taken place at the Finance Ministry despite prior warning about such suspicious transactions by some external parties, according to what transpired during the meeting of the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) in the parliamentary complex last week.

Sri Lanka lost after cyber criminals breached the computer system of the Ministry and diverted US $ 2.5 million to another account. The payment is due to Australia as part of an interest payment in view of a bilateral loan.

The COPF summoned Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma for questioning on the matter last week.

A top source familiar with the COPF proceedings said that there had been warnings about such cyber act...