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Sis-bro defraud millions on bogus computer purchases
View(s):By Damith Wickramasekera
A woman executive at a private firm and her brother were taken into custody after they allegedly defrauded five leading companies of an estimated Rs 28 million in bogus computer purchases, a senior officer with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said yesterday.
The suspects are alleged to have used the credit facility of the firm the woman suspect was attached to, and purchased some 250 plus laptops and 48 computer units from these companies, before bolting, he added.
Investigations reveal that the woman suspect who was a senior Administration Officer with the Chinese company that facilitates projects in Sri Lanka, where her work mandated her to make purchases unchecked, used it as a perfect cover to defraud the victims over a period of a year. The complaints were first lodged against her about four months ago, but she had been absconding.
The CID was called in to investigate by the victims who claimed the firm the suspect worked for, was in the red to the tune of millions of rupees, following mass scale computer and software purchases, the official added. He said the victim companies had even provided large discounts to the suspect woman, owing to the volume of the purchases, while she had also built a relation of trust.
“When the police called over at the company initially, they were informed that the woman was no longer in employment, as she had left some four months ago”, the official further said.
He added that the pair was currently being held on a Detention Order, while investigations continue in a bid to trace the computers and related material believed to have been sold to individuals and private firms.The pair was picked up from a safe-house in Nugegoda. The CID is carrying out further investigations.
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