Five individuals have been arrested by the Nuwara Eliya Divisional Crime Investigation Unit for allegedly collecting money from residents by falsely promising to provide government jobs, housing and loans using forged official letterheads and seals of the Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat.
Police said the arrested suspects include a 70-year-old man residing in Jaffna and individuals operating communication centers in Nuwara Eliya, Hatton and Kotagala.
The suspects had allegedly carried out the racket by posing as the acting Accountant and Planning Director of the Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat and forging the signatures of the relevant officials, including District Secretary Thushari Tennakoon.
The forged letterheads and signatures came to light when several letters sent to the District Secretary by individuals who had paid money to the suspects were examined after they failed to receive any response to letters issued to them.
Accordingly, the District Secretary lodged a complaint with the Nuwara Eliya Divisional Crime Investigation Unit, which subsequently commenced an investigation.
Police said the suspects had obtained money from residents in Hatton and Kotagala with the assistance of several others in those areas. They had allegedly issued letters bearing forged seals on official letterheads as proof of the amounts collected.
Several forged seals, letterheads and computers allegedly used to produce the fraudulent documents were also seized from the possession of the suspects.
Speaking on the incident, District Secretary Thushari Tennakoon said that money had also been collected from residents for various events organized using her name and that of the Additional District Secretary.
She further said the suspects had used a ploy of informing organizers that she would attend the relevant events and later notifying them by telephone that she was unable to attend due to an unavoidable reason, while instructing them to proceed with the meetings.
Further investigations are being conducted by a team of police officers, including the Officer-in-Charge of the Divisional Crime Investigation Unit, under the supervision of the Senior Superintendent of Police in charge of the Nuwara Eliya Division.
