Sri Lankan embassy worker goes missing in UK

Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

A massive fraud perpetrated by a man attached to the Sri Lanka embassy in South Korea has been exposed following an investigation carried out by the Investigation Unit of the Presidential Secretariat recently, sources told the Sunday Observer.

A top level investigation has been launched by the Unit to trace the missing suspect who had travelled to London with his diplomatic passport.

The suspect is said to be having an affair with a popular Sri Lankan film actress domiciled in the United Kingdom. A top team of investigators headed by Tilak Iddamalgoda, a former Senior DIG and an Advisor to the Presidential Secretariat and ASP Ruwan Gunesekera of the Unit left for South Korea a fortnight ago to probe into the Rs. 5 million fraud. Interpol and the local police are also looking for the suspect who is said to have defrauded a woman from Matara who was to receive Rs. 5 million from an Insurance company in South Korea.

The suspect who fled South Korea had travelled to the United Kingdom where he surrendered his diplomatic passport to the Sri Lankan embassy in London.

His whereabouts thereafter are not known, sources said. Further investigations revealed that a former bhikkhu had proceeded to South Korea and found employment as a worker in a factory.

The South Korean insurance company had remitted Rs. 5 million to the newly opened bank account at Kiribathgoda. In the meantime, the Sri Lankan Labour Officer arrived in Sri Lanka last December and collected the money from his sister. Investigations revealed that the total money was withdrawn from the bank branches at Kurunegala, Katugastota and Kiribathgoda in December. The suspect had remitted Rs. 5 lakhs to the deceased's sister who lives in Matara. The Foreign Ministry has issued the suspect with a Vacation of Post notice. However, prior to the accident he had nominated his sister who lives in Matara as the next of kin.

Meanwhile, his sister had forwarded the insurance claim to the Sri Lanka embassy in South Korea through the Foreign Ministry in Colombo to claim compensation from the South Korean insurance company.

The Sri Lankan embassy's Labour Officer who received the insurance claim is said to have instructed the claimant sister living at Kiribathgoda to open a bank account in a private bank and to forward her photograph to him.