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.
Vijita Herath said that 250 computers and 500 mobile phones were seized during the police raids last week, and the investigation is still on as to how much was stolen. “They mainly focus on foreign banks and financial institutions,” Herath said of the gangs targeted by the raids.
The Chinese embassy in Colombo reported sending a “task group” of security officials to conduct “special operations” with the Sri Lankan police.
“A large number of suspected criminals have been arrested,” the embassy said in a statement, adding that “repatriation and other efforts” are underway. The biggest crackdown came on Saturday when police detained 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 economic collapse. China’s crackdown on cybercriminals at home may have pushed some to seek criminal opportunities abroad, the embassy statement said.
China is willing to further strengthen police cooperation with Sri Lanka, the statement said. In June, police arrested another 200 suspects, mostly Indians, accused of online financial fraud.
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