The Special Investigation Division of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau has intensified its operations against foreign employment fraudsters, leading to the arrest of two suspects, including a woman, on October 10.
A woman from Wegowwa was arrested after allegedly defrauding another woman from Kiribathgoda by promising employment for a couple in factories in Dubai, UAE, in exchange for Rs. 800,000. The victim lodged a complaint with the Bureau after the promised jobs failed to materialize.
Investigations revealed that the suspect had collected money for providing foreign employment without a valid license from the Bureau. She was produced before the Mahara Magistrate’s Court on October 11 and was ordered to be remanded until October 24.
Meanwhile, acting on a tip-off, Bureau officers raided a prominent hotel in Kurunegala where illegal job interviews for employment in Kuwait were being conducted. The suspect who organized the interviews was arrested, and officers seized three foreign passports, job application forms, and several files. He was produced before the Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The Special Investigation Division, established on the initiative of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment Arun Hemachandra, has been receiving a surge of complaints regarding fraudulent foreign employment activities. The Bureau announced that its operations have been expanded to respond to these complaints and urged the public to report any information about such fraud to the Bureau’s Special Investigation Division via hotline 011-2882228.
