Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
Saturday, 28 December 2024 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
A Sri Lankan couple wanted for large-scale financial fraud amounting to Rs. 1.6 billion was remanded yesterday after being arrested at the Katunayake Airport upon their return to the country.
The suspects were remanded till 6 January 2025 by the Hulftsdorp Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The couple, against whom INTERPOL red notices had been issued, and their 14-year-old daughter were arrested by Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officials at the airport yesterday.
The suspects are a 49-year-old man from Colombo 05 and his 43-year-old wife, who had fled to India via boat along with their daughter in 2021.
The couple was wanted for several financial frauds reported across the country, with eight travel bans being imposed against them by the Colombo, Trincomalee, and Batticaloa Courts.
The man, who had arrived with his daughter from India on Thursday afternoon had been arrested by CID officials at the airport, while his wife had been arrested after arriving on a night flight on the same day.
The suspects were handed over to the Financial and Commercial Crimes Investigation Division at the CID Headquarters in Colombo for further investigations. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had operated a financial institution promising dividends to businesses, but had not been registered with the Central Bank.
Following their arrest, the suspects revealed that they had started their business targeting the Muslim Community in the Sammanthurai, Kalmunai, and Ampara areas, and had fled the nation after the business faced losses.
