Priyan de Silva
COLOMBO: Acting on a complaint, the Kirulapone Police arrested a group of con men who were cheating expatriate workers out of their remittances by promising false loan schemes under the ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ Programme. They were said to have swindled people out of millions of Rupees.
The arrests were made after Police traced the suspects’ hideout with the mobile numbers they had used to contact the victims. They have been identified as residents of Pitabeddara.
Police also seized the suspects’ mobile phones, computers, vehicles, and certificates that were at the scene. Senior DIG Deshabandu Tennakoon visited the Kirulapone Police Station to congratulate them on this breakthrough.
Moreover, through further inspections, Kirulapone Police also found that the suspects were linked to another group that were forging National Identity Cards (NICs) and driving licences in the Wellampitiya area.
It has been revealed that the group had been posting fake advertisements on social media, announcing that expatriate workers would be granted loans under the ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ loan scheme.
Once the victims had contacted them, the suspects had asked them to fill out an online form, open a PayFast or Western Union account, and transfer 10 percent of the loan amount.
However, the suspects had not only collected the cash the victims had sent them, but also identified their Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and withdrew money from their accounts by tampering with ATM machines and using forged documents.
The con men had managed to obtain fake NICs and driving licences through a contact working at the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT).
Furthermore, police also seized over 9,000 blank NIC and driving licence cards from the second hideout in Wellampitiya.
It is said that the group had been forging such cards for prices between Rs.10,000 and Rs.25,000.
Kirulapone Police has requested all those who have fallen victim to these scammers to contact their Officer-in-Charge on 0718591582. *CDN)
