The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has arrested a Kuchchaveli resident accused of running a large-scale fraud targeting youth in the Eastern Province by posing as an NGO official offering Canada-based supermarket employment, Newswire reported.
The Bureau said it had received at least seven formal complaints involving more than Rs.4 million in alleged fraud, but investigators believe the total amount swindled could exceed Rs.10 million as further complaints continue to emerge. The suspect is accused of collecting money from young men and women on the promise of securing supermarket jobs in Canada.
Officials said the suspect had evaded arrest on several occasions by going into hiding. He was apprehended on May 19 during a joint operation by the Police Special Bureau and the SLBFE Special Investigation Unit at a house in Kuchchaveli.
The Bureau also disclosed that court cases relating to similar allegations against the same suspect are already pending before the Negombo, Batticaloa and Avissawella courts.
The suspect was produced before the Trincomalee Magistrate’s Court on May 20 and was remanded until May 26. The investigation was conducted under the supervision of Senior Superintendent of Police Kamal Ariyawansa, Director of the Central Criminal Investigation Division, with officers from the SLBFE Special Investigation Unit.
The arrest follows the SLBFE Maharagama bust earlier in the cycle, where the Bureau exposed a similar overseas-employment fraud network targeting job-seekers with fake placements abroad.
Source: Newswire.
