-By: Investigative Reporter
(Lanka-e-News -19.April.2025, 11.30 PM) In a country where a litre of petrol costs more than an hour of most people’s labour, and a pothole can swallow a family of four, one man’s empire of welded wheels and dodgy documentation is finally under the microscope. That man is Ishara Nanayakkara — the ever-smiling, internationally-investing, locally-untouchable chairman of LOLC Holdings, and now the chief guest in what could become Sri Lanka’s largest vehicle importation scam in history.
The charge? Importing vehicles in two parts, illegally evading billions in customs duties, and putting thousands of Sri Lankan lives at risk by welding together death traps disguised as shiny four-wheelers.
You’ve heard of build-your-own burgers. But build-your-own BMWs?
According to a confidential financial crimes investigation report now circling through the corridors of Sri Lanka’s Justice Ministry, Ishara Nanayakkara — through a chain of front companies including Ishaar Traders — imported luxury vehicles in two disassembled parts. Engine and chassis via one invoice, body and electronics via another. The technique? Seamless. The intention? Seamlessly criminal.
Once the parts entered the country — often routed through Kandy, Negombo, Pannipitiya, and suburban Colombo — they were welded together in scattered workshops, mostly owned or controlled by shell entities linked to the LOLC empire. The final trick? Use a few corrupt officials at the Department of Motor Traffic to register these Frankenstein rides with all the charm of a new Tesla, minus the safety.
Result? Shiny cars. No taxes. Hidden billions. And a trail of death and destruction.
Between 2016 and 2022, Sri Lanka witnessed a 27% spike in fatal vehicular accidents involving high-end used imports. While insurance companies and the police quietly blamed “reckless driving,” insiders now suggest something more sinister: structural instability caused by poor welding, mismatched parts, and fraudulent documentation.
Some of these vehicles bore the sticker of “Ishaar Traders” — a name now synonymous with luxury on the outside and sabotage on the inside.
One retired CID investigator who has reviewed dozens of accident reports says, “These cars should never have passed a roadworthiness test. They weren’t just unsafe. They were ticking metal bombs.”
And Sri Lankan roads, it seems, became the testing ground.
The entire operation may have cost the Sri Lankan treasury a whopping Rs. 85 billion in unpaid taxes, according to an independent audit handed over to Parliament's Committee on Public Accounts. This isn’t just tax evasion — it’s economic terrorism.
What could Rs. 85 billion have funded?
A full year of fuel subsidies.
A national kidney treatment program.
Repairs to half the roads in the Western Province.
Or maybe even repayment of one whole IMF loan installment.
But instead, those billions financed beachfront properties in the Maldives, luxury condos in Dubai, and investments in exotic resorts allegedly owned — surprise, surprise — by none other than Ishara Nanayakkara and his overseas ventures.
In a cinematic twist, the investigation gained real traction after a retired administrative officer, once attached to the Sri Lankan customs and vehicle registration department, came forward with boxes of documentation.
We're talking customs declarations, chassis inspection reports, shipping manifests, and — most damningly — emails and WhatsApp messages coordinating the welding workshops and registration scams.
The man, reportedly disillusioned by what he called “systematic betrayal of the country,” handed over everything to the Presidential Commission on Illegal Financial Activities under a sealed testimony.
As of now, this bureaucratic whistle-blower remains under protection. But his documents? They’re blowing the cover off one of the most polished financial criminals Sri Lanka has ever produced.
Here’s the delicious irony: Ishara Nanayakkara is about to be hoisted by his own capitalist petard.
The Proceeds of Crime Act, recently passed by the NPP government, allows the state to seize any asset, cash, or investment acquired through illegal means — including dodgy vehicle imports that violated customs and transport laws.
This is not just a matter of paying a penalty. The new law empowers the government to freeze LOLC shares, reclaim luxury real estate, and block outbound wire transfers associated with any illicit income — estimated to be north of Rs. 85 billion in this case.
Finance Ministry sources say that if proven, this would lead to Sri Lanka’s largest post-war asset seizure. Bigger than the Golden Key debacle. Bigger than the bond scam.
And unlike previous investigations, this one seems to have legs — and wheels — albeit bolted together illegally.
Nothing scandalous in Sri Lanka is complete without a whiff of Rajapaksa.
Ishara Nanayakkara was long considered the “silent vault” of the Rajapaksa family, especially during the Mahinda-Gota era. Numerous suspicious financial transfers between Rajapaksa-controlled entities and LOLC subsidiaries were flagged in offshore leaks, but swept under the rug during their reign.
Did he store Rajapaksa assets in safes, as many allege? Did he act as a laundering hub for election funds? No solid proof — yet.
But the pattern of impunity, the timing of LOLC’s rapid expansion, and the close business proximity to Gota’s Dubai dealings are enough to trigger inter-jurisdictional probes, especially with assets now sitting in Dubai, Maldives, Seychelles, and Mauritius.
Let’s say this plainly: if Ishara Nanayakkara was Mexican, the US Treasury would have sanctioned him already.
This man reportedly transferred illicit gains — disguised as "investment capital" — into real estate and stock market ventures in:
New York
Dubai
London
Singapore
If Wall Street ever finds out that some of these investments may have stemmed from chopped-up KIA SUVs and bootleg Toyotas, regulatory red flags will be flying faster than the Sri Lankan rupee falling against the dollar.
The SEC (US), MAS (Singapore), and FCA (UK) are being informally notified via Sri Lanka’s economic crime division. Whether they act depends on how fast Sri Lanka moves to file international cooperation requests under the FATF’s “dirty money” directive.
Let’s not forget: this is a man who markets himself as Sri Lanka’s “self-made billionaire”, preaching entrepreneurship, appearing on business panels, and pledging investments in the Colombo Port City project.
The same man is now credibly accused of weaponizing loopholes, exploiting Sri Lanka’s broken registration system, and risking thousands of lives — all while pretending to be the patriotic face of post-crisis growth.
If Ishara Nanayakkara’s wealth was built on welded wrecks and stolen taxes, he doesn’t belong in a boardroom. He belongs in court.
This is not just about one businessman. It’s about Sri Lanka’s credibility in fighting white-collar crime.
If Ishara Nanayakkara walks free — if no action is taken to seize his tainted assets, investigate his enablers, and audit his international investments — then what message does that send?
That anyone can import cars in pieces, weld them together like IKEA furniture, and become a billionaire?
That risking public safety is worth it if you register a shell company and shake hands with the right politicians?
That the law is optional if your bank balance is big enough?
Sri Lanka’s economy is not just suffering from debt. It’s suffering from a lack of consequences for its worst offenders.
The Rs. 85 billion case against Ishara Nanayakkara may be the government’s last chance to show it has the spine to stand up to oligarchs in tailored suits.
Investigations are moving. Witnesses are lining up. The documents are damning. But pressure is mounting.
Sources say Nanayakkara is preparing legal defences, lobbying foreign embassies, and possibly moving assets offshore.
If the authorities blink now, it will prove — once again — that in Sri Lanka, the only crime bigger than tax evasion is being too poor to commit it.
-By: Investigative Reporter
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by (2025-04-19 18:09:56)
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