2024-10-15 10:29:00
Sri Lankan police have arrested more than 230 Chinese accused of defrauding international banks over the Internet, the foreign minister said on Tuesday, with the help of security officials sent by Beijing.
Vijitha Herath said police raids last week had also seized 250 computers and 500 mobile phones used in the alleged scams, and that the extent of the thefts was still being investigated. “They focused mainly on foreign banks and financial institutions,” Herath said of the gangs targeted in the raids.
The Chinese embassy in Colombo said it had sent a “task group” of security officials to carry out “special operations” with Sri Lankan police.
“A large number of criminal suspects were arrested,” the embassy said in a statement, adding that “repatriation and other efforts” were underway. The largest raid occurred on Saturday, when police arrested 126 Chinese, as well as two Vietnamese, a Thai and a Filipino.
Sri Lanka has a strong telecommunications infrastructure and was the first in South Asia to deploy a 5G network, in April 2019, three years before the country’s financial collapse. The embassy statement said China’s crackdown on cyber criminals in the country may have pushed some to seek criminal opportunities abroad.
“China is willing to further strengthen police cooperation with Sri Lanka,” the statement said. In June, police arrested another 200 suspects, mostly Indians, also accused of carrying out online financial scams.
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