Four suspects have been arrested by the CID for illegally obtaining Rs. 43 mn from an account of a leading Steel Manufacturer by producing forged cheques.

The CID arrested four members of an organized crime gang who had obtained Rs. 43 million by presenting forged checks from an account maintained in a private bank owned by a well known steel factory.

It has been revealed that the suspects had committed this illegal transaction on the 12th of April just before the New Year.

They have targeted the funds in an account belonging to this steel factory. Checks have been prepared similar to the checks of the relevant company. The police stated that the fraud had been committed by a group of people who were dressed similar to the employees and pretending to be from the company.

The checks were printed at a location in the Hanwella area using the check numbers issued to the company.

Accordingly, the suspect who operated the printing press and a resident of the Ranala area who assisted in the operation were first arrested.

The 51 year old suspect, a resident of Ranala, had arrived in Sri Lanka about a month ago after residing in the United States.

In addition a 34 year old officer of the relevant private bank has also been arrested.

A 27-year-old suspect, who was dressed as an employee of the steel company involved in the check transfer, was also arrested and it has been revealed that he was an executive of a seperate private company.

In addition, four more persons who went to cash the checks have been identified and investigations are underway to arrest them.

Police Media Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana stated that this is the first time in the history of Sri Lanka that forged checks have been printed and a large amount of money has been swindled.

The CID is conducting further investigations into the incident.