Old footage falsely shared as return of fugitive former central bank head to Sri Lanka

A Sinhala-language Facebook post shared on October 18 claims Arjuna Mahendran, the Sri Lankan central bank's former governor, was "brought back" to the country, racking up more than 1,000 shares.

It also shares a video with a text overlay that reads "Arjuna Mahendran to Sri Lanka, Anura Kumara Dissanayake has started the game to imprison Ranil Wickremesinghe."

The clip shows Mahendran leaving an airport terminal and telling reporters: "So far, I have not been accused of doing anything wrong."

Image

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on October 24 with a red X mark added by AFP

The former central bank chief was named a key suspect in a multi-million dollar bond scam in Sri Lanka, where he was accused of passing sensitive information to his bond-dealer son-in-law in 2015 and making millions. 

The current president Dissanayake has pledged to bring him -- a Singapore national of Sri Lankan origin -- back to the country for trial (archived link).

Sri Lankan authorities have repeatedly appealed to the city-state's government -- where he is believed to be hiding -- to extradite him to the South Asian country.

But Singaporean authorities refused the request in March 2019 and again in February 2025, saying he could not be sent back due to its legal system, according to Sri Lankan paper the Daily Mirror (archived here and here).

The video appeared in similar posts elsewhere on Facebook and Instagram. 

But a keyword search on the Facebook page of Sri Lankan television channel Ada Derana -- whose logo appears on the top right of the false video -- found a clip showing the same scene published on its YouTube channel on November 3, 2016 (archived link). 

The video's caption says it shows Mahendran returning to Sri Lanka from Singapore on the day -- over a year before former president Maithripala Sirisena announced a probe into his alleged insider trading (archived link).

Image

Screenshot of the video shared in the false Facebook post (left) and the original clip published in 2016 (right)

Other Sri Lankan outlets also reported on his return to the country after attending a wedding in Singapore (archived here and here).

F.U. Wootler, spokesperson for the Sri Lankan police, also told AFP on November 2 they have not received any legal information on the former central bank chief "returning or being brought back to Sri Lanka".

AFP has previously debunked claims related to Sri Lankan government officials accused of misconduct here and here.