The legal profession has always enjoyed a wide leeway when structuring client retainers, but extracting nine-figure sums from the spouse of an incarcerated underworld figure crosses well into the territory of high-stakes fiction. Today, the Colombo High Court stepped in to draw a firm line between legal counsel and criminal enterprise, formally locking down the personal wealth of a prominent court officer.
Colombo High Court Judge Ruwan Dissanayake ordered a three-month suspension of bank accounts and three motor vehicles belonging to lawyer Rakhitha Rajapaksa. The judicial order ratifies an emergency asset freeze executed on October 29 by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.
The suspect stood quietly in the courtroom as state prosecutors outlined the jaw-dropping details of the case. An Assistant Director General of the Bribery Commission informed the bench that investigators had uncovered an alleged bribe of 120 million rupees. According to state findings, this astronomical fee was paid in Dubai by the wife of notorious drug kingpin Nadun Chinthaka Wickramaratne, better known as “Harak Kata.”
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What did 120 million rupees allegedly buy? Not routine legal representation, but a guarantee: ensuring the underworld figure’s physical safety and securing his transfer to a less hostile detention facility.
Following financial tracing, state investigators uncovered multiple accounts and luxury rides linked to Rajapaksa, establishing grounds to invoke the Proceeds of Crime Act No. 5 of 2025.
Defense counsel Chaminda Athukorala mounted a spirited defense, pointing out that no concrete evidence was produced proving these specific accounts held proceeds of crime, adding that the bank accounts existed long before the alleged Dubai transaction. The prosecution countered with Section 75 of the Act, which allows preventive freezes to stop assets from evaporating during active probes.
Judge Dissanayake ruled firmly for the state, instructing that formal preservation notices be dispatched directly to commercial banks and the Commissioner General of Motor Traffic. With the High Court’s lock firmly engaged and the Bribery Commission digging deep into the paper trail, one thing is clear, the suspect won’t be reaching into those bank accounts or getting behind the wheel of those vehicles anytime soon.
