Swindlers nabbed in the nick of time

By Ananda Agalakada

A moustachioed Kingsley Vernon Perera, 68, with pipe in hand was seen quite often pacing up and down the verandah of his luxurious apartment. It had all the modern gadgets available in the market and he had more than three luxury vehicles to boot. He also had two Pajeros and a Montero sitting pretty in his garage. He was often seen getting into one of the vehicles and being driven away by a chauffeur.

His daughter, Imalka Kumari, 40,was also seen with her husband, Saman, 48, visiting Kingsley and all of them were heard singing bawdy songs and having a gala time.

There were noisy parties with men and women clad in gaudy coloured clothes getting off posh cars and entering the Kingsley residence.

Surge

The high walls surrounding the house prevented anyone from knowing what was going on within the four walls. Neighbours could only peek into the house when the gates were left ajar. Kingsley was living in Makola a residential locality.

He never exchanged a single word with any of the neighbours and had an air of arrogance about him. Somehow the people of the area smelt a rat and felt that there was more than what met the eye. Suddenly the trio went missing and were not heard or seen.

Then there was a sudden surge of people looking for Kingsley. All of them said they were looking for Kingsley who had promised them job opportunities in Italy and were told that he had gone missing.

They were furious with what they heard and then they gave vent to their feelings at the Sapugaskanda police station. The OIC calmed then down and asked them to lodge their complaints individually.

The trio had not only promised employment but also had even promised land deals at cheap rates and swindled as much as they could from gullible village folk.

Sapugaskanda police began to look for the trio because they had swindled huge sums of money amounting to Rs 350 million.

There were 49 complaints against the trio and the police arrested them while they were trying to flee the country on forged passports. The Gampaha Magistrate remanded them.

A few months later, Kingsley, Imalka and Saman were granted bail by Magistrate Dharshika Wimalaweera who ordered them to repay the money in installments to the complainants. At first they repaid a few instalments but disappeared once again. Once again the victims made complaints to the Sapugaskanda police, because many of them had either mortgaged or pawned whatever little possessions they had to raise the money requested by Kingsley.

Kingsley had befriended an underworld character while in remand at the Mahara prison.

The man who was resident in Deniyaya had promised Kingsley that he would help him whenever he was in trouble.

Now comes the twist to the tale - Kingsley decided to obtain the services of the underworld character. His motive was to eliminate the complainants. Kingsley moved to Deniyaya with his daughter and son in law. Kingsley bought a tea estate where they could live in safety.

Wealthy

Sapugaskanda police received a tip off by a villager who said a wealthy family had taken residence in a tea estate in Deniyaya.

The OIC of Sapugaskanda police IP, P.G.S.R. Sanjeewa and a police team rushed to Deniyaya and apprehended the trio again while they were relaxing in the estate.

Ninety-six complaints had been lodged with the Sapugaskanda police against Kingsley, Imalka and Saman when they were taken into custody.

Police said the suspects had adopted devious methods and not left any trail behind when they engaged in their nefarious activities.

They had even changed their appearance - Kingsley had showed his moustache and his daughter had adopted a trendy hairstyle. Saman too had visited a stylist and got a makeover. If not for the suspicions entertained by the people of Deniyaya, they would have escaped detection and may have stealthily left the island, police said.