Kuwait Times reported that Shiranthi Rajapaksa, 73, was arrested on Wednesday by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and questioned for nearly seven hours. A Colombo magistrate remanded her in custody until October 13, and she was admitted to the prison hospital for an eye condition.

The allegation is that the Siriliya Saviya Foundation, the charity she headed, misused donations collected for a children's hospital, including a children's cancer facility. Investigators told the court that the scanner had already been donated by the Chinese government, but the charity allegedly kept soliciting donations and misused the funds.

She denies wrongdoing and says the money was not misappropriated; her lawyer, Manoj Gamage, said she will contest the charges. She flew to Singapore on September 16 for medical treatment, was served a summons at Colombo airport, and returned on Monday after filing a petition to prevent her arrest. An anticipatory bail hearing is set for October 12.

Related arrests followed. Pradeep Kariyawasam, former chairman of the state-owned National Savings Bank, was arrested for allegedly giving 10 million rupees (about $30,000) to the charity and was released on bail. Rohitha Bogollagama, 72, a foreign minister under the Rajapaksa government, was ordered held by the Colombo High Court until the end of his trial for allegedly misusing state funds in 2006 as investment promotion minister.

Her eldest son, opposition lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa, is in remand over allegations tied to a 2013 Airbus aircraft deal signed during his father's presidency. The family denies the allegations and calls the cases politically motivated. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's government has revived long-dormant graft investigations involving the family. Mahinda Rajapaksa was president from 2005 to 2015; his brother Gotabaya was ousted by mass protests in 2022.