163 cases filed against foreign job fraudsters    

Stringent legal action is to be taken against illegal foreign job agencies and individuals, attempting to send Sri Lankan workers for foreign employment, making false promises and obtaining large sums of money fraudulently, a senior Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau official said.
The Legal Division of the Bureau has filed 163 cases during the first seven months of this year compared to 248 cases last year, he said adding that stringent action will be taken against those illegal foreign job agencies and individuals.
The highest number of 135 cases was filed at the Mahara Magistrate Courts against a foreign job agency for defrauding money of job seekers promising to send them for employment in Seychelles, he disclosed.
19 cases were filed against another fraudulent employment agency for defrauding money amounting to over Rs. 50 million from 19 foreign job seekers promising them with jobs in Israel.
Another case was filed at Hambantota Courts against a woman who operated an illegal foreign employment agency in Hambantota for obtaining over Rs.120 million fraudulently from 17 persons promising jobs in the fisheries industry.(Bandula)