The Sri Lankan government has sought the international assistance of the United States, Indian and the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in order to trace reports of financial abuse by the former government, announced the foreign minister.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, a politician who was previously close to the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, told The Telegraph:

“We have asked for help from the authorities in Britain, the US, India and several other countries, as well as the stolen assets recovery unit at the World Bank, as we try to identify assets stashed abroad in offshore accounts, property and business investments”.

“We need the help of foreign governments and agencies and we are very pleased with the assistance we have been receiving. We are on the verge of some major breakthroughs and we are preparing criminal cases right now.”

His comments come, ahead of the Sri Lankan general elections on Monday, where the issue of accountability for massacres committed during the final stages of the island’s armed conflict continues to be a major issue for voters. Sri Lanka has so far refused to allow international investigators from the United Nations access to alleged sites of mass atrocities.

Hugo Swire, the British Foreign Office Minister for Asia, said the UK was “leading a real drive on this across the world and are supporting a number of governments, including Sri Lanka’s, on tackling corruption”.

“The SFO have already provided training for the Sri Lankan authorities and we stand ready to provide further support, if requested,” he said.