The Sri Lankan police formally inaugurated the Proceeds of Crime Investigation Division (PCID) on Sunday, a new unit established under the Proceeds of Crime Act No. 05 of 2025 to investigate assets, property, and funds obtained through illegal means.
The division, located at the old Police Headquarters in Colombo, was opened under the patronage of Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala.
According to officials, the PCID will be tasked with probing both criminal and non-criminal acquisitions of wealth and property. It has also been granted authority to initiate civil proceedings in cases where assets are deemed to have been unlawfully acquired.
The new division has the power to coordinate investigations with 34 state institutions, including the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), the Attorney General’s Department, and the Financial Intelligence Unit.
Police officials stated that the PCID will accept complaints from the public and can freeze or seize suspicious assets for up to 30 days pending further investigation.
The Act also introduces expanded oversight powers for the Auditor General, allowing audit findings to be submitted directly to CIABOC for further action. Importantly, the law applies retroactively, meaning that it can be used to investigate and act upon irregularities identified in past audit reports.
While the government has framed the new division as part of a broader anti-corruption drive, the same regime has consistently refused to confront far graver crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed against the Tamil people.
Sixteen years after the end of the armed conflict, there have been no prosecutions into atrocities committed during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009. The Sri Lankan government continues to reject international accountability mechanisms, resolutions proposed through the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and has instead relied on domestic institutions that Tamils and human rights groups have widely condemned as politically compromised.