Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Friday arrested in Colombo for allegedly misusing government funds for a private visit to London in 2023, AFP reported.

Wickremesinghe was taken into custody after appearing before the Sri Lankan Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, Newswire reported. He was questioned about his visit to the United Kingdom in September 2023 to attend a ceremony for his wife at a British university while he was head of state, an unidentified official told AFP.

The official was quoted as saying that the former president would be produced before a magistrate and that charges would be filed against him for using government resources for personal purposes.

Wickremesinghe had stopped in London in September 2023 after attending a Group of 77 summit in Havana, AFP reported. The G77 is a coalition of developing countries within the United Nations.

According to the news agency, the former president and his wife Maithree had attended a ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton in London.

Wickremesinghe has maintained that no government funds were used during the visit and that his wife’s travel expenses were paid for by her. However, the Criminal Investigation Department alleged that he used government money for his travel on a private visit.

Earlier in August, former Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake and former Private Secretary Sandra Perera were also questioned in connection with their roles in arranging the visit, Newswire reported.

Wickremesinghe, a former prime minister, was Sri Lanka’s president between 2022 and 2024.

He had taken over the presidency in July 2022 through an extraordinary parliamentary vote after Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who held the position at the time, was forced out amid an economic and political crisis. The country declared bankruptcy that month.

Wickremesinghe was credited with stabilising Sri Lanka’s economy after its worst-ever financial crisis in 2022.

However, Wickremesinghe lost his re-election bid in September 2024.

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