Taiwan bank cyber swindle -- Litro Chairman Shalila who was hiding in Nugeoda Nalandarama taken into custody!

Taiwan bank cyber swindle -- Litro Chairman Shalila who was hiding in Nugeoda Nalandarama taken into custody!

Chairman of Litro Gas Company, Shalila Munasingha who is considered to be the super brain behind the fraud of swindling monies in America's City Bank after gaining access to Taiwan's Far Eastern International Bank's computer system through a cyber strategy has last afternoon surrendered to the Criminal Investigation Department and was subsequently taken into custody.

Prior to this, M.C. Nammuni, son of retired Army Major General Jaliya Nammuni was in custody and

on the information secured from him an investigation was underway trying to track Shalila Munasingha. Having got news that a search was on to arrest Shalila, he had fled from home and then had been hiding in Nugeooda Nalandarama under shelter of MP Mr. Ravi Karunanayaka who happens to be a close associate of his. After the police got information that he was in hiding there, surrendered to police through the assistance of Attorney-at-Law, Mr. Kalinga Indratissa. Shalila Munasingha happens to be the president of Nava Prajathanthravadi Peramuna Party (Swan) for which President Maithri contested at last Presidential Election.

This financial fraud initially came to light when America's City Bank communicated to the Bank of Ceylon through a message sent by them. The Taiwan Bank too had sent an email to Sri Lanka about this.

After the funds were credited to the Bank of Ceylon, the individual called Nammuni had visited the bank concerned on 2 occasions to collect the monies and when queried as to from where the money originated, what he had initially said was that that it was a bank draft meant for a business matter. By the second occasion after the bank was notified that these funds originated from a financial fraud, Nammuni was taken into custody. According to video evidence, some person had loaded large sums of money into sacks from Bank of Ceylon and were removed to be handed over to him.

The funds from America's City Bank had been acquired on a slip transfer system to a private bank in Taiwan and had subsequently been directed to Sri Lanka's Bank of Ceylon and had thus manipulated this cyber attack launched by a group of Indian hackers. Shalila and Nammuni too had planned this activity and had been involved in the process of retrieving these funds, it was revealed. As such, it had been agreed to share 50 per cent to the hackers, 30 per cent to Nammuni and 20 per cent to Shalila from this fraudulent money transaction and the monies were shared a few days before this at a leading hotel location in Colombo, the police have come to know. For this illegal purpose an Indian national too has been present in Sri Lanka. 

It has been revealed that the monies thus cheated amounting to approximately 60 million American dollars through this hacking process carried out on the Taiwan Bank has been set up in a manner where this monies would reach the hands of various individuals in several countries other than Sri Lanka.

Shalila who was taken into custody last night (9) was taken to the Criminal Investigation Department and is expected to be produced before courts today (10) and Nammuni who had been arrested before this is supposed to be brought before courts tomorrow (11).