General

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has detained three people on suspicion of running fake foreign employment agencies while pretending to offer visa consultancy services. The arrests came after the bureau acted on tips received about these scams. In the Ja-Ela and Kadana regions, two people reported that they were scammed out of Rs. 3.6 million with false promises of jobs in Romania. The bureau then arrested the owner of the agency involved. This suspect was taken to the Welisara Magistrate’s Court, where the Magistrate ordered them to be remanded. A woman who allegedly helped with the scam was also called to the bureau. After her statement was taken, she was arrested too. Additionally, there is a different complaint about another agency in the Negombo area. This agency reportedly took Rs. 5.5 million from a person, claiming to offer jobs in Europe through social media. After a raid, the owner of this agency was arrested, and several employment contracts along with a passport were seized from the site. This suspect was later brought before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court and was granted bail, according to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment.