Based on an information received, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption initiated an investigation over the illegal registration of nearly 400 vehicles not cleared through Sri Lanka Customs. The registration has been done by illegally entering the data of the vehicles into the Department of Motor Traffic database. Investigation Officers of the Commission’s Intelligence Unit have by now uncovered specific details of 178 out of those vehicles.

On 05.04.2024, filing 51 B reports in relation to 51 vehicles, the Commission informed that according to the report of Sri Lanka Customs, clearance has not been obtained for those vehicles, and has thereby caused a loss to the Government which was due to it as customs duty.

Since there is a possibility of transferring those vehicles to another person during the investigation period to make its tracing difficult, Officers who appeared on behalf of the Commission requested the Colombo Chief Magistrate to issue an interim injunction order to prevent the transfer of those vehicles.

Therefore, Colombo Chief Magistrate Mr. Prasanna de Alwis, on 05.04.2024, ordered the Commissioner General of Motor Traffic to hold the ownership transfer of said 51 vehicles. This interim order applies to 03 Jeeps, 24 Land Cruisers, 18 Monteros and 06 luxury cabs.

This illegal registration has caused a loss of Rs. 3000 million to the Government. Further investigations into to the matter are in progress.