The 'fraudulent activities' of some companies taking money in the name of agricultural investments are revealed.

Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, revealed that some companies have used money obtained from the public, claiming it as agricultural investments, to start newspapers, supermarkets, and tourism businesses, as well as to sponsor various shows and sports competitions. In addition, these institutions have spent this hard-earned public money on giving gifts to artists and publishing advertisements for promotional activities.

The Governor also pointed out that they have used public money to promote these investments by employing social media activists, and that these activists represent the interests of the companies concerned, not the public.

He emphasized that the Central Bank recently suspended only accounts that illegally obtained deposits, and that legal cultivation accounts have not been suspended at any time. Therefore, these companies have no ability to evade paying depositors by claiming that the Central Bank has suspended accounts. However, due to continuous awareness campaigns by the Central Bank urging people not to fall prey to such fraudulent companies, the amount of new investments they receive has decreased, making it impossible for them to repay old investors. He also stated that it is clear from this that real cultivation activities alone cannot generate enough income to pay an enormous dividend of forty percent without new deposits.

The main purpose of suspending illegal accounts is to redistribute those funds back to depositors after due legal process. The Central Bank has informed the relevant cultivation companies that if they do not wish to suffer the same fate as pyramid schemes operated in the past, they should immediately come forward and present a mechanism for repaying deposits illegally obtained from the public. Dr. Weerasinghe also pointed out that the relevant companies can carry out cultivation activities with their own money instead of covering agricultural expenses with other people's money.

The Central Bank Governor further requested that if there are any individuals who have invested money in such cultivation schemes and have fallen into difficulty or been aggrieved, they should complain to the Central Bank, and that extensive investigations can be carried out regarding the relevant companies based on the complaints received. Stating that there is no cultivation method in the world that can pay a forty percent dividend and eventually return the entire investment amount, he strongly urged the public to refrain from investing money in such projects further and to reject suspicious gifts and money offered by cultivation companies.