Sri Lankan police have arrested more than 230 Chinese accused of targeting international banks in online scams, the foreign minister said on October 15, with the help of security officials sent from Beijing. .
Vijitha Herath said that police raids during the past week also seized 250 computers and 500 mobile phones used in the alleged scams and investigations into the stolen amount were still ongoing.
“They mainly targeted foreign banks and financial institutions,” he said of the gangs targeted in the raids.
The Chinese embassy in Colombo said it had dispatched a “task force” of security officers to conduct “special operations” with the Sri Lankan police.
“A large number of crime suspects have been arrested,” the embassy said in a statement, adding that “repatriation and other work” was ongoing. The biggest raid happened on October 12, when the police arrested 126 Chinese, as well as two Vietnamese, a Thai and a Filipino.
Sri Lanka has a strong telecommunications infrastructure and was the first in South Asia to deploy a 5G network, in April 2019, three years before the country’s financial crisis.
The embassy statement said China’s crackdown on cybercriminals at home may have prompted some to seek criminal opportunities abroad.
“China is willing to further strengthen police cooperation with Sri Lanka,” the statement said.
In June, police arrested another 200 suspects, mostly Indians, who were also accused of online financial fraud. AFP
