COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Kapila Chandrasena, the former chief executive of SriLankan Airlines who was facing charges in one of Sri Lanka’s most consequential corruption investigations, was found dead on Thursday at a residence in Colombo’s Kollupitiya neighborhood, police said. He was 58.
The death came one day after a Colombo court ordered his rearrest over what prosecutors described as violations of his bail conditions. Police said they suspected suicide. Investigations are continuing.
Mr. Chandrasena had been at the center of a sprawling bribery inquiry involving the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and a 2013 deal in which SriLankan Airlines agreed to purchase 10 aircraft in a transaction valued at approximately $2.3 billion.
International investigators alleged that Airbus agreed to pay roughly $16.84 million in bribes linked to the procurement. Court filings contended that at least $2 million had been routed through a company connected to Mr. Chandrasena's wife into a bank account in Singapore.
In 2020, Airbus reached a major deferred prosecution agreement with British authorities, acknowledging that intermediaries had been used to improperly influence aircraft sales across several countries, including Sri Lanka.
The scandal gained new dimensions in 2024 when the United States Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mr. Chandrasena, accusing him of accepting bribes in exchange for securing aircraft purchases at inflated prices.
Sri Lanka's Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, known as CIABOC, arrested Mr. Chandrasena on March 12 in connection with the $2 million payment.
During court proceedings, CIABOC alleged that Mr. Chandrasena had told investigators that 60 million Sri Lankan rupees drawn from the Airbus-related funds had been delivered to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in three installments. Mr. Chandrasena subsequently withdrew that claim in a sworn affidavit, asserting that the statement had been made under coercion and that references to Mr. Rajapaksa and his son, Namal Rajapaksa, had not been voluntary.
He was granted bail on May 5 under strict conditions, including a cash deposit of 500,000 rupees and three sureties of 10 million rupees each.
On Wednesday, a Colombo court ordered his rearrest after CIABOC argued that two of the sureties had been improperly obtained, constituting a breach of the bail terms.
