Eight people took control of Rs 15.9 billion worth of Sri Lankan public assets by paying Rs 5,000 each — about $14 at current exchange rates. This isn't a typo. It's what Sri Lanka's Auditor General describes in a damning special report as a calculated scheme to transfer a state-built university into private hands while taxpayers still guarantee its debt.
The NSBM Green University in Homagama, built entirely with government funds and an Rs 8.6 billion Bank of Ceylon loan guaranteed by Sri Lanka's Treasury, was converted from a state institution into a "company limited by guarantee" in July 2024. Ownership transferred to eight individuals — the vice-chancellor, deputy vice-chancellor, and six officials — who collectively assumed liability of just Rs 40,000 (about $110) for assets worth nearly 400,000 times that amount.
"This isn't mismanagement. This is theft dressed in legal paperwork," said Samantha Perera, an anti-corruption activist in Colombo. "They told the Cabinet the loan was paid off. It wasn't. They promised transparency. Then they moved the university outside the Auditor General's oversight. This was planned."
The Auditor General's Special Report (SPR/2025/04), released in November 2025, details how officials allegedly lied to Sri Lanka's Cabinet to secure approval for the transformation. According to the audit, a cabinet memorandum claimed the Rs 8.6 billion Bank of Ceylon loan "has been completely repaid from the institution's own funds." The audit found Rs 6.1 billion remained unpaid as of late 2023.
Meanwhile, students were paying the price — literally. Despite Department of Public Enterprises orders limiting fee increases to once every three years, NSBM hiked fees twice a year from 2020-2024, raising tuition by 33-75 percent for 20 degree programs. All while the university reported a Rs 1.1 billion pre-tax profit in 2023.
"I'm paying Rs 450,000 per year now," said Dilshan Fernando, a third-year business student at NSBM. "Two years ago it was Rs 280,000. My father had to take a loan to keep me in school. And the whole time, they're making billions in profit? Where is that money going?"
The audit suggests much of it went nowhere — or rather, stayed with the institution rather than returning to the state. Despite making substantial profits, NSBM paid zero dividends to its parent state company NIBM from 2016-2024. The excuse was that the university failed but officials failed to submit those test reports for audit review for five of those eight years.
