One arrested for hacking foreign accounts & money laundering: Police

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Tuesday (Mar. 23) arrested a 29-year-old individual for an offence committed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Sri Lanka Police said. The suspect was identified as a resident of the Veppakulam area in Vavuniya, Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana said. "Based on the investigation conducted by the officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a sum of Rs. 17.2 million was deposited to a bank account maintained under the suspect's name at a private bank in Sri Lanka," DIG Ajith Rohana told News 1st on Wednesday (Mar. 24). According to DIG Ajith Rohana, initially, a complaint was lodged with the CID in April 2020 with regard to the offence of money laundering and the complaint had stated that Rs. 140 million was deposited to bank accounts of various individuals in Sri Lanka. Based on the complaint, the money had been retrieved by illegally accessing accounts of people residing in various countries, the Deputy Police Chief noted. "The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has so far arrested 36 suspects for money laundering since the complaint was received in April 2020," Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana said elaborating on the Money Laundering case. The CID is conducting further investigations with the assistance of the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).