Mar 17, Colombo: The officers of the Special Investigation Unit of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau have arrested two men who swindled money from people by claiming to provide foreign jobs.

A person from Pallama area who swindled money by saying that he would provide jobs in Kuwait was arrested recently (15) in Maradana area.

The suspect had received an amount of Rs.450,000 from a woman resident of Gampola area saying that she would be provided a job in Kuwait, and the woman has complained to the Bureau on March 15 as the job was not given as promised.

Investigating officers who acted immediately on the complaint have arrested the suspect.

The arrested suspect was produced before the Gampola Magistrate’s Court on the same day, and the magistrate ordered to release the suspect on a personal bail of Rs.500,000 and a cash bond of Rs.10,000. The court also imposed a travel ban on the suspect.

The magistrate ordered the passport to be kept in the custody of the court and suspect to appear before the investigation department of the bureau on the last Monday of every month.

The further hearing of this case is scheduled to be called again on May 9, 2023.

Meanwhile, based on a complaint made to the Foreign Employment Bureau by a man who was promised a job in Oman, the Investigating officers have arrested a resident of Piliyandala area.

The suspect was brought to the Bureau on March 09th to investigate the relevant complaint, and was arrested there.

During the questioning, the suspect has admitted that he has received an amount of Rs. 555,000 from the complainant for providing this job opportunity.

The suspect was produced before the Kesbewa Magistrate’s Court on March 10th, and the Magistrate ordered to release him on 2 sureties of Rs. 600,000 each. The further hearing is scheduled to resume on October 10, 2023.

The Foreign Employment requests the public before giving money or passport to a certain organization or person to go for foreign employment to find out whether that organization is a registered legal entity with the Bureau and whether the relevant job orders have been received by that organization.