Bogus employment agent arrested

A woman who had a foreign travel ban against her for defrauding over Rs. 13 million from several individuals by promising jobs in Poland and Malaysia, was arrested by officials of the Immigration and Emigration Department at Katunayake Airport, while returning to the island from abroad yesterday.

The woman, a resident of Colombo, had run an employment agency earlier but had not renewed her licence.

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) had received 53 complaints that the agency did not provide the job as promised after charging money from the job seekers, and the officers of the Special Investigation Division of the Bureau were looking to arrest this woman.

As she had evaded the investigation officers and went into hiding on May 31, a travel ban had been imposed against her after the SLBFE reported the matter to court.

The suspect was remanded until July 4 after being presented in Courts yesterday.

The SLBFE urged the public yesterday to inform them about such fraud or fraudulent organizations or individuals to the Bureau’s hotline 1989 or the Bureau’s Special Investigation Division on telephone number 0112 864241.