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Financial fraud: Sakvithi & wife plead guilty; fined Rs. 3.6 Mn

Financial fraud: Sakvithi & wife plead guilty; fined Rs. 3.6 Mn

13 Dec 2023

Convicted financial fraudster Sakvithi Ranasinghe and his wife have been fined Rs. 1.8 million (Mn) each by the Colombo High Court (HC), after the duo pleaded guilty to charges of financial fraud.

Colombo HC Judge Namal Balalle further ordered that they be sentenced to 24 months of rigorous imprisonment (RI), in the event they fail to pay the relevant fine.

In July, Ranasinghe and his wife had pleaded guilty to financial fraud charges after they were accused of operating an unauthorised financial institution and misusing its deposits worth over Rs. 164 million obtained from the public. The couple had misappropriated an amount to the tune of Rs. 164,185,000 by misusing the funds of the depositors of Ranasinghe’s illegal financial company “S.R. Property Sharing Investment (Private) Limited” during the period between 1 January 2006 and 3 September 2008.

Ranasinghe started off as an English language tutor, and after gaining some popularity, he had set up a financial institution that offered higher interest rates for depositors to invest their money. He is also said to have been involved in a real estate business through his other company Sakvithi Constructions, which he used to purchase and sell properties using forged deeds.

The scam was eventually exposed by the Central Bank in September 2008 after looking into a multitude of complaints filed by its victims. Ranasinghe then fled to Chennai, India, shortly after his illegal activities had come under the spotlight. However, upon his return to the island, the Mirihana Police arrested both him and his wife in August 2010.

Last year (2022), the Colombo HC handed Ranasinghe a 22-year RI sentence suspended for five years after the accused pleaded guilty to 11 charges laid against him. The accused was fined Rs. 25,000 for each charge. Meanwhile, his wife – who pleaded guilty to one of the charges levelled in this case – was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for five years. She was fined Rs. 25,000.


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