Three arrested over foreign employment racket in Kurunegala

Three persons were arrested by the Special Investigation Unit of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), in connection with a foreign employment scam based in the Kurunegala District.

A higher education institute located in Kurunegala was reportedly raided by the SLBFE, after two complaints were lodged claiming that the institute in question had asked for Rs. 760,000 from each person, under the false pretense of providing them with employment opportunities in Dubai.

Accordingly, three persons; a married couple and a relative, were arrested on charges of running an illegal, unlicensed foreign employment agency and falsely recruiting people for overseas jobs, while four foreign passports and several documents related to the provision of foreign employment were also found in their possession at the time of the arrest.

Upon presenting the suspects before the Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court, the wife and her relative were ordered to pay two surety bails of Rs. 500,000 each, while a foreign travel ban was also imposed against both persons, for illegally running a foreign employment agency.

Meanwhile, in relation to the charges pertaining to the false recruitment of persons and defrauding them of their money, the married couple was ordered to pay a cash bail of Rs. 10,000 and two surety bails of Rs. 700,000 for each of the two complaints received by the SLBFE in this regard.

The case is due to be called in court again on 17 November.