Large-scale Online Fraud Center in Maradana Raided (photos)

Security forces have succeeded in apprehending a large-scale online financial fraud network, which was allegedly secretly operated on the third floor of a building located at Maradana Technical Junction, in the heart of Colombo city. In this operation, carried out on the evening of the day before yesterday (2), 21 individuals of Chinese, Bangladeshi, and Indian nationalities were arrested on suspicion by the Colombo Central Criminal Investigation Bureau.

It is suspected that this group, who arrived in Sri Lanka on tourist visas, were illegally staying in the country without valid visas and engaging in these online frauds. A senior police officer stated that among those arrested were twelve Chinese nationals, six Bangladeshi nationals, and three Indian nationals.

This raid was carried out based on information received by the Inspector General of Police, Attorney Priyantha Weerasuriya. Accordingly, officers of the Colombo Central Criminal Investigation Bureau immediately acted and raided the building based on a search warrant obtained from the Maligakanda Magistrate's Court. In addition to the Central Criminal Investigation Bureau, teams of officers from the Department of Immigration and Emigration and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) also provided their assistance for this operation.

The third floor, where the suspected foreign nationals were staying, was subjected to a thorough search, and during the search, numerous items, including computers suspected to have been used for their activities, were taken into police custody.

The senior officer further confirmed that an investigation has already been launched to uncover more information about the nature of the online financial frauds allegedly committed by these foreign nationals. Following the relevant investigations, the Colombo Central Criminal Investigation Bureau is currently making arrangements to present the 21 suspected foreign nationals before the Maligakanda Magistrate's Court.