The Gangodawila Magistrate has ordered the remand of the owner of the Maharagama Rainbow Manpower Foreign Employment Agency until February 13, following allegations of a large-scale foreign employment scam involving promised jobs in Romania. The suspect is accused of operating an unauthorized foreign employment scheme that targeted hundreds of Sri Lankan job seekers.
The remand order relates to a suspect who was arrested on October 10 last year on suspicion of running the Rainbow Manpower agency in the Maharagama area and defrauding victims of more than Rs. 900 million. Investigators allege that the agency collected large sums of money from individuals by falsely claiming it could secure employment opportunities in Romania.
During proceedings, the Magistrate also instructed the respondent to submit a detailed report at the next hearing outlining how payments were made to individuals who allegedly received the fraudulently obtained funds. In addition, the Criminal Investigation Department was ordered to present a comprehensive report on all assets owned by the suspect, as part of efforts to trace the proceeds of the alleged scam.
The Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau informed the court that it had received approximately 470 complaints against the suspect, with complainants claiming they were deceived after being promised overseas employment in Romania. These complaints were subsequently handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation. Separately, the Criminal Investigation Department confirmed that it had received more than 400 additional complaints related to the same alleged scheme.
Representatives of both the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau and the Criminal Investigation Department appeared in court on behalf of the complainants, underscoring the scale of the alleged fraud and the coordinated investigation now underway.
