The deposit was reportedly made five days before the Presidential election on the directives of the Presidential Secretariat and was to be distributed among the public of the East Province under the guise of flood relief, in order to secure the region's mandate in favour of Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Upon the request of the East commanding officer - Major General Lal Perera, this sum was deposited to the PRI's People's Bank account 254-100-100000340 located at the Welikanda Branch.

Afterwards, the money was distributed among the commanding officers of Divisions as follows :

Rs. 13 million (Trincomalee area) - Brigadier Rohitha Dharmasiri, General Officer Commanding, 22 Division

Rs. 05 million (Poonani area) - Brigadier Darshana Hettiarachchi, General Officer Commanding, 23 Division

Rs. 01 million (Ampara area) - Brigadier Rohana Bandara, General Officer Commanding, 24 Division

The balance of Rs. 06 million still remains in the bank account.

Although Major General Lal Perera had insisted that this money should be distributed among the voters in the respective areas, the above General Officers Commanding have resisted and informed the Army headquarters to make the request in writing if it must be done so, as such an action would blatantly violate Election Act.

However, the Army headquarters has not responded and therefore, the orders of  Major General Lal Perera have been overlooked.