Over 140 Foreign Nationals Arrested in Chilaw for Online Financial Fraud

The 152 foreign nationals arrested in Chilaw for online financial fraud have been granted bail today, April 9th, by the Chilaw District Judge. They were released on two personal bails of LKR 1 million each. This confirms the total number of arrests as 152 and the arrest date as April 2nd. Of the detainees, 137 are Chinese nationals. A separate report, however, claims that 500 foreign internet fraudsters have been arrested, without specifying if this refers to the same incident or a new one.

New reports indicate the total number of foreign nationals arrested in Chilaw for online financial fraud is 152, a revision from previous figures. One source states the arrests were made by the CID on the night of April 2nd, based on a tip-off from Chilaw Police. This conflicts with other reports that cited Army or Military Intelligence as the source of the tip-off and April 3rd as the arrest date. Another source, however, reiterates the total as 147 and confirms the breakdown of nationalities as 133 Chinese nationals, 13 Bangladeshi nationals, and 1 Vietnamese national, with the operation stemming from Military Intelligence.

A new Lankadeepa report reiterates that the arrests were made based on a tip-off from Army intelligence. It also provides a specific breakdown of the foreign nationals, stating the group includes 126 Chinese men, 7 Chinese women, 10 Vietnamese men, 3 Vietnamese women, and 1 Malaysian national. This breakdown sums to 147 individuals, again highlighting a discrepancy with the reported total of 150. This specific breakdown matches a previous report (v3) and conflicts with the most recent breakdown (v6) which stated 135 Chinese, 13 Vietnamese, 1 Taiwanese, and 1 Malaysian.