Former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivad Cabraal is under investigation for causing a colossal financial loss of Rs 9.7 billion to the government of Sri Lanka, highly placed sources of the Bribery Commission told Asian Mirror on Thursday.

In a major development in this regard, the Bribery Commission of Sri lanka imposed an overseas travel ban on the former Central Bank Governor, seizing his passport along with that of MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, who was the Monitoring MP of the Ministry of External Affairs under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna has already lodged two complaints with the Bribery Commission against Cabraal on the controversial Hedging deal and investments in Greek bonds.

The five-year-old dispute between the Sri Lankan Government and the Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) over flawed oil hedging deals ended with a US$ 60 million (Rs.7.5 billion) payment settlement. The money was paid to the SCB by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) in 2013. The JVP has charged that the former CB Governor was the person who advised the government to proceed with the Hedging deal despite heavy risks involving the decision.

The Sri Lankan government had to suffer losses on investments in Euro bonds had amounted to Rs. 2.2 billion, according to revelations made by the Central Bank when it was summoned before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), a few years ago. The revelation was made by former opposition MP and now Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake.

The JVP also filed a complaint against former Central Bank Governor Cabraal for managing public funds in an arbitrary manner in a number of instances without transparency and discipline. However, speaking to media, Cabraal has already distanced himself from all the charges leveled against him, saying he acted in a fully transparent manner.