SriLankan Airlines confirms transaction errors in UAE and India

SriLankan Airlines officially clarified two separate incidents involving an erroneous transaction caused by a compromised email account of a service provider in the United Arab Emirates, and the misappropriation of funds in India.

According to the statement, a service-providing institution located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, informed SriLankan Airlines that they did not receive a sum of 974,000 Dirhams (AED) allocated to them.

Subsequent investigations revealed that a third party compromised the email account of the relevant service provider.

The statement further noted that they misled SriLankan Airlines by changing bank account details and providing false documents through official communication channels.

Taking immediate action upon learning about this, SriLankan Airlines prevented further funds from being credited to the relevant account and filed complaints with the UAE authorities and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Sri Lanka, with investigations currently underway.

Since this occurred due to a vulnerability in the service provider's email system, the airline stated that it accepts no responsibility regarding the non-receipt of funds.

Meanwhile, the company also revealed that several Indian employees working in the finance division of the SriLankan Airlines office in Chennai, India, misappropriated a sum of 22 million Indian Rupees (INR) over a period of time.

The statement noted that they committed this fraud by forging invoices, payment details, and altering signatures.

An internal investigation conducted by the head office in Colombo uncovered these suspicious transactions, after which the relevant employees failed to report for duty; SriLankan Airlines took appropriate action against them and immediately referred the incident to the Indian law enforcement authorities.

Investigations are currently underway, and SriLankan Airlines further emphasised that steps are being taken to recover the financial loss.