Police shed light on massive fake crypto investment scheme

The police today (Oct. 27) shed light on a massive financial fraud committed through a fake cryptocurrency investment scheme.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had initiated probes after receiving a complaint about the scam, according to Police spokesperson SSP Nihal Thalduwa.

According to him, one Sri Lankan named Keerthi Bandara was arrested in connection with the incident. He is currently out on bail.

Meanwhile, a Chinese man by the name Zhang Kai and his girlfriend have also been taken into custody over the scam. They were arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake on September 12 while attempting to fly out of the island.

The trio had set up a website called “Sports Chain” which they used to lure investors by introducing it as a highly profitable cryptocurrency investment platform.

They had commenced their fraudulent operation in 2020 and run it as a Ponzi scheme, an investing scam that generates returns for earlier investors using the money obtained from new investors.

At least 8,000 Sri Lankans have been scammed by the three suspects and have swindled more than Rs. 14 billion, according to the police spokesperson.

Earlier reports revealed that professionals like doctors, teachers, security personnel and people from lower middle-income backgrounds have been affected by the scam.