CID investigators are probing whether a suspicious call during the Treasury heist links foreign cyber scam suspects to the US$250,000 fraud.
The Treasury heist investigation has reached a decisive stage, with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) focusing on a mysterious telephone call linked to the alleged fraudulent transfer of US$ 250,000 from Treasury funds.
According to government sources, the call is believed to have been received while email exchanges connected to the financial transaction were taking place. Technical examinations are now being carried out to identify the caller, trace the country from which the call originated, and determine whether it played any role in the movement of the money. Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Anil Jayantha also recently confirmed that a suspicious telephone call had been received during the transactions.
A separate line of inquiry is also examining whether the computer hackers believed to be involved in the Treasury heist may be connected to foreign nationals arrested during recent raids across the country.
On May 7, the Mount Lavinia Divisional Crime Investigation Department arrested 30 foreign nationals in the Boralesgamuwa area. Investigators found that the group, who had escaped from the Welisara transit camp, had been living in a rented house in the 10th Mile Post area while allegedly engaging in illegal online financial scams.
In addition, on April 2, the CID arrested 152 foreign nationals accused of being involved in similar scam operations.
Police are now conducting a wider investigation to establish whether any direct or indirect link exists between these groups and the theft of money from the Treasury.
