{"id":18043,"date":"2026-04-11T06:06:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T06:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/?p=18043"},"modified":"2026-04-11T06:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T06:06:31","slug":"altered-photo-falsely-claims-ranil-met-arjuna-mahendran-in-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/altered-photo-falsely-claims-ranil-met-arjuna-mahendran-in-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"Was it an occasion when Ranil met former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran in Singapore?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This is a fact-check we conducted on a post circulating on social media that claimed former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, while in Singapore for surgery, had met former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, who is facing charges in connection with the Central Bank bond scam and cannot be extradited to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Media Posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post claims that former President Ranil Wickremesinghe met former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, who is said to be residing in Singapore and is accused of being involved in the Central Bank bond scam, while he was in Singapore for medical treatment. The post was shared on X on April 8 and indicates that the former President and the former Central Bank Governor also posed for a photo during the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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X<\/a> | Archived Link<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering readers’ requests regarding the accuracy of this, we have taken the following steps to investigate its truthfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fact Check:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media reported<\/a> that former President Ranil Wickremesinghe had left for Singapore on March 15 to undergo surgery and that he had returned to the island on April 9 after undergoing surgery at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. The United National Party’s official Facebook page had also posted a note mentioning this.<\/a> At the same time, United National Party Chairman Vajira Abeywardena recently called a media conference and stated that party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is in good health<\/a> after undergoing surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If, during the few weeks that he was in Singapore for treatment, Ranil Wickremesinghe had met the former Central Bank Governor, who is facing charges in connection with the Central Bank bond scam during the Yahapalana government and cannot be extradited to Sri Lanka, and if a photograph of such a meeting had been released, the local media should have considered it a leading news story and reported on it, but no news of such a meeting has been reported by any of the leading media outlets in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During further investigation into this matter, a news website reported<\/a>, along with a photo, that Singapore’s former Foreign Minister George Yeo had come to meet the former President when he went to Singapore for treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photo circulating on social media claiming to show former Central Bank Governor Mahendran and former President Ranil Wickremesinghe meeting in Singapore shows similarities between the background and appearance of Ranil Wickremesinghe and the photos published in the media purporting to have been taken during the meeting with the former Foreign Minister in Singapore. To further confirm this, we examined the social media accounts of Ranil Wickremesinghe and the former Singaporean Foreign Minister, and found that the former Foreign Minister had posted a photo on his Facebook account showing his meeting with Ranil Wickremesinghe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Facebook<\/a> | <\/strong>Archived Link<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This same photo was also posted<\/a> on the official Facebook page of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s media unit on April 7th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is further confirmed that there are similarities between the photo posted claiming that Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe met the former Central Bank Governor in Singapore and the two photos taken when the former Singaporean Foreign Minister met Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, regarding the logo seen at the bottom right of the photo circulating on social media claiming to show Ranil and Arjuna Mahendran meeting, it has been edited using artificial intelligence (AI) to replace the actual photo of the former Singaporean Foreign Minister with a photo of Arjuna Mahendran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a comparison of the two photos that were released on social media, the actual photo taken when the Singaporean Foreign Minister met with Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the edited photo of the former Central Bank Governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arjuna Mahendran, who is accused of the Central Bank bond fraud<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Yahapalana government (2015\u20132016), when former President Ranil Wickremesinghe was Prime Minister, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was Arjuna Mahendran, a Singaporean citizen. Mahendran, who has been named as a suspect in the controversial Central Bank bond scam that took place in 2015, is currently facing open warrants and notices to appear in court. The former Central Bank Governor has been accused of providing confidential information to his nephew Arjun Aloysius’ Perpetual Treasuries company during a bond auction held on February 27, 2015. Details here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simultaneously, although the National People’s Power Party (NPP) had stated during the election campaign that former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, a suspect in the Central Bank bond cases, would be brought back to the country immediately, a situation has arisen in which it is impossible to bring Arjuna Mahendran, a Singaporean national, back to the country under extradition law. Responding to a question raised by a journalist at a Cabinet meeting last February about when Arjuna Mahendran, who is involved in the Central Bank bond scam, would be brought back to Sri Lanka, Cabinet Spokesperson Nalinda Jayatissa stated that although the process is not simple, diplomatic interventions are being made to bring him back as soon as possible and the relevant cases are being pursued. The video is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join us to learn about our fact-finding efforts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facebook<\/strong><\/a> | <\/strong>Twitter<\/strong><\/a> | <\/strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a> | <\/strong>Google News<\/strong><\/a> | <\/strong>TikTok<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our investigation shows that the photo circulating on social media claiming that former President Ranil Wickremesinghe met former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran in Singapore is not authentic. It is a misleading image that was edited and shared on social media by replacing the former Foreign Minister with a similar image of Arjuna Mahendran in the photo taken when the former Foreign Minister met Ranil Wickremesinghe.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n