Sri Lanka, April 25 -- Labour Minister and Finance and Planning Deputy Minister Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando yesterday said that a failure to properly verify the intended recipient may have led to US$ 2.5 million being transferred to a third party during foreign debt repayment by the Finance Ministry.

Responding to a question raised by a journalist, he said that officials responsible for external debt servicing should have confirmed the recipient's account details in Australia before releasing the funds.

Dr. Fernando explained that an individual, posing as the intended recipient, had created a fake email account and communicated with the relevant officials. "When the debt repayment process began, this party has managed to have the funds ...