News
Fifty years hard labour for land-deal fraudster
A 40-year-old man who used forged documents in a land transaction worth tens of millions of rupees was sentenced to fifty years hard labour by the Kandy High Court Judge Manilal Waidyatilleke on Friday. The judge also ordered him to pay a fine of Rs. 150,000 after he was found guilty on four charges.
The convict, M.W. Jayantha Nisantha Wijesooriya of Katunayake, was one of the two people arrested for using three forged deeds. CID investigations showed that the two men knew that the signatures on the deeds were not of those whose names have been mentioned as the owners of the 80-perch land at Kadiranawatte in Katunayake, close to the airport. The fraud, according to the CID, took place between June and August 2011.
Mr. Wijesooriya pleaded not guilty at the beginning of the High Court trial which continued for nearly six months. On Friday, Judge Waidyatilleke sentenced the accused to five years rigorous imprisonment on the first count, 15 years each on the second, third and the fourth counts.
The other suspect, an employee of the Petroleum Corporation, pleaded guilty at the beginning of the trial and was handed a six-month suspended jail term on each of the four counts he was charged with. He was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs. 40,000.
Attorney-at-Law Ajith Dharampriya with M. Bandara appeared for the accused and the CID was represented by Sergeant Paddukka. State Counsel Udara Karunatillke prosecuted.