Woman jailed for renting out property she didn’t own

By Bhagya Silva

Colombo, January 7 (Daily Mirror) - A woman accused of leasing a property belonging to another person to a third party was today sentenced to one year of simple imprisonment by Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama.

The Magistrate imposed seven months of simple imprisonment, while the remaining five months were suspended for a period of ten years.

Police stated that in 2018, the suspect had rented out a house to the complainants on a lease basis, falsely claiming that the said property belonged to her. It later emerged that the house was owned by another individual. Upon receiving information regarding the matter, the lawful owner of the property had informed the occupants currently residing in the house that he was the rightful owner.

Investigations further revealed that all rental payments received from the house had been collected by the suspect. Thereafter, in 2018, the occupants of the house had lodged a complaint with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau regarding the actions of the suspect.

Following a prolonged trial, two other suspects implicated in the case were acquitted and released by court.

Subsequently, after an extensive examination of evidence relating to the remaining suspect, court held that the woman was guilty of fraud by unlawfully leasing a property without ownership and accordingly imposed the sentence.

The complainant and the lawful owners of the property informed court that they did not seek compensation.

Court further observed that the suspect had previous convictions for similar fraudulent acts and that she had been engaged in deceiving members of the public over a number of years. Taking these factors into consideration, the Magistrate imposed the said sentence.