A person involved in cheating people residing abroad by misusing their money and distributing them among the locals by operating an illegal financial institution in Pettah was arrested by the Colombo Fraud Bureau (CFB).

He was arrested at Third Cross Street in Pettah by a special police team that was deployed by the CFB, Police media spokesman Ajith Rohana said.

He had cheated nearly Rs.2 million and the state had lost a large amount of money due to his activities.

He was arrested along with three of his associates with cash worth around Rs.1 million. The suspect was on the run since the police began to track him down. But it was believed that he was hiding in an area close to his home town.

The police have been getting a number of complaints from the victims who were cheated by the suspect. The CFB after taking over the investigations traced the suspect and took him into custody.

The CFB are investigating the incident in order to recover the money and items that have been taken by the suspect based on information gathered from further questioning her.

The suspects were produced before the Hulfsdrop Magistrate after thorough investigations with the information gathered from the victims and was remanded till October 27, SP Rohana said. (Supun Dias)