Depositors duped by alleged fraudster Chandana Weerakumara, alias Sakvithi Ranasinghe, have asked the authorities to investigate the assets of several well-known persons, including lawyers, and others linked to the former English teacher’s ten-figure scam.
Priyantha Thilekaratne, vice-president of the Association to Ensure Rights of Sakvithi Depositors, told The Sunday Times that victims of the scam are demanding a scrutiny of the financial background of these persons and of employees of Ranasinghe’s company.
“We want to know what happened to the money left here by Sakvithi Ranasinghe before he left for India,” said Mr. Thilekaratne. “Surely he did not go through the airport with bags full of money.”
Aside from running an illegal finance company and duping up to 2,800 depositors, Sakvithi Ranasinghe sold land using forged deeds and issued cheques without funds in the bank, investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) reveal.
The CID has called on the public to send in any information they may have relating to fraudulent land sales and bouncing cheques generated by Ranasinghe. The CID has received 24 fresh complaints from depositors.
The latest developments follow the police detention this week of a man who had helped Ranasinghe with his English classes and assisted him during his brief stay in Chilaw, before his arrest.
“Despite knowing who Sakvithi was, this man continued to help him with his classes,” a police officer involved in the investigations told the Sunday Times. “He could have informed the police, but he didn’t.”
The Association to Ensure Rights of Sakvithi Depositors is also seeking an audience with the man himself.
“Sakvithi now says he had to flee the country because his depositors were insisting on the immediate return of their money. We find this hard to believe,” said Mr. Thilekaratne.
“We know for a fact that no one went and asked for their money back, before any of this happened. Even after Sakvithi Ranasinghe disappeared, people were depositing money with his finance company, between September 9 and 18, in 2008. This was before his disappearance was reported in the media. So what happened to all this money?”
Mr. Thilekaratne said employees at Mr. Ranasinghe’s finance company and others had escaped investigation on the grounds that the finance company’s proprietor had fled the country. “The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) should look into their assets,” he said.
A victim of the Sakvithi scam himself, Mr. Thilekaratne described his own experience with Ranasinghe’s business. “I had just returned from Japan, and I wanted to build a house,” he told the Sunday Times. “I saw several newspaper ads about a company called Sakvithi Housing Constructions. I visited their office to talk about my plans. I was told I could initially pay 40 per cent of the construction cost, and the rest in installments. I said I had only Rs. 500,000. They told me to deposit the money with them, and pay the rest later, which I accordingly did.”
According to a senior police officer, Sakvithi Ranasinghe is being questioned by the police, but so far no information has surfaced as to the whereabouts of the missing millions.
The police are hoping for information about any of Ranasinghe’s associates who might have helped hide the money, the officer said. |
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