Two arrested in Kandy for running fake Australia job visa scam

Colombo, Feb. 13 (Daily Mirror) - Two youths operating a fraudulent visa consultancy centre under the pretext of offering employment opportunities in Australia were arrested yesterday (12) by officers of the Special Investigation Unit of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment in the Kandy area.

The Bureau said the arrests followed a complaint from a resident of Gampaha, alleging that an institution operating as EGA Visa Consultancy in Kandy had obtained Rs. 3.5 million after promising employment in Australia but failed to deliver the jobs.

Based on the complaint, investigation officers raided the premises yesterday and found that the institution was operating without a valid licence issued by the Bureau, while falsely claiming to offer overseas employment opportunities.

Two 23-year-old suspects, residents of Gampola and Thalathuoya, who were running the centre, were taken into custody. During the raid, officers also seized seven foreign employment contracts, five foreign passports, and several cash receipt books from the premises.

The suspects are due to be produced before the Kandy Magistrate’s Court today (13).

The raid was carried out under the supervision of Senior Superintendent of Police Kamal Ariyawansa, Director of the Central Crime Investigation Division, with the participation of Chief Inspector P. B. Ariyasinghe, Inspector T. B. De Alwis, Police Sergeant Marasinghe, and officers attached to the Bureau’s Kandy Provincial Office.