Heartbreak as millionaire racketeer flees
By Nirmala Kannangara
It was an extraordinary sight on Monday at the Mirihana Police station. Thousands thronged the station demanding justice and if possible some hope that their hard earned savings would be returned to them. The man who had allegedly caused this misery to unsuspecting customers duped into investing their widow’s mite in his much publicised investment company was a man called Sakviti Ranasinghe a.k.a an English tuition master.
Funnily enough he was a man respected in the community and up until last week advertisements were still being published calling on the public to invest in the group. But more on that later.
Cry for justice
Yesterday the cry for justice and fair play had only gotten louder as the Mirihana police tried to cope with thousands of complaints as innocent victims sought police intervention to recover their investments, police say amount to billions of rupees.
These innocents who have invested in Ranasinghe’s Sakvithi Group of Companies were calling for his blood this week and not for his English tuition notes nor his investment plan. "Now we learn that he has fled the country, but if he is absconding justice in Sri Lanka we would not come to the Police but would take matters into our own hands to teach him a good lesson," frustrated depositors swarming the police station told The Morning Leader angrily.
No sooner than news spread of Ranasinghe’s fleeing Sri Lankan shores and with the burden of knowing that their hard earned money invested with him in order to reap a good interest to face the rising cost of living (CoL) was now at stake, depositors amounting to more than 4,000 people thronged to the Mirihana police station.
Hope of redress slim
Unfortunately as with every scam and scandal to which the gullible and trusting are drawn, the hope of redress is very slim. Recall the case where thousands had dumped millions of rupees in a pyramid type computer related scam by a bogus company called Seagull set up by two Indian nationals.
About 18,000 people had been duped into parting with their cash ranging from a few thousands to millions with the promise of making a quick buck. The company even named a well known bank as their bankers in order to gain the trust of the people.
Perhaps the most worrying scam is the persistent Gold Quest Pyramid scam which unfortunately has still not been quelled despite assurances by the Central Bank and arrests of operatives of pyramid scheme cells from time to time.
Be that as it may it is learnt that the alleged suspect in the present investment company scam has fled the country with his family on September 9, leaving thousands of dejected depositors old and young, poor and not so poor, desperate and forlorn.
A tutor born to educate
Sakvithi Ranasinghe was a man who talked the talk. He identified himself as a tutor born to educate the children of Lanka in the English language. He has been, to this end conducting English classes in major cities for the past few years but soon realised there was more money in investment business.
Setting up a company called Sakvithi he promised prospective customers attractive interest rates for their investments. Funnily enough it was a fluctuating interest rate and according to depositors some were paid 6% monthly while some have received 10% for their investments.
Some investors told The Morning Leader they were drawn to invest and place their faith in the company as internationally renowned veteran journalist Edwin Ariyadasa assured them a good service as a consultant to this firm.
"They advertised in almost all the papers in the country daily assuring the people high returns for their money and since Edwin Ariyadasa’s photo too appeared in the paper advertisement we did not have any doubts investing in this company," the dejected depositors told The Morning Leader.
Trusted the veteran journalist
When queried as to why they invested with a private investment company when the entire country was well aware of what happened to the depositors who deposited in the HPT Finance Company and Pramuka Bank, these innocents who have now lost all their money told The Morning Leader that they trusted the veteran journalist Ariyadasa who always advised people how to lead a good life.
"We were attracted to the paper advertisements that promised the people a higher return. Apart from this since we could not get more than Rs 25,000 interest monthly without being taxed from the state and private banks, we thought this would be a better opportunity for us to invest with them," they added.
Their castles in the air now destroyed all these innocent depositors now ask for is their capital back. Most of them have pawned their jewellery, house and property to invest with this bogus company — Sakvithi Group of Companies.
Meanwhile the Mirihana Special Crime Investigation Unit led by OIC, Chief Inspector D.M. Liyanage on the instruction of SSP Deshabandu Tennakoon have taken five suspects into custody including a retired Major on Monday on a detention order. The police are currently holding investigations as to how, if at all, these suspects are connected to Ranasinghe. According to police sources more than 4000 people have invested more than Rs. 6000 million with the Sakvithi Group, where Sakvithi Ranasinghe is for the moment believed to be the only person who has allegedly cheated his customers for such a large amount of money.
Desperate depositors
The scenes outside the Mirihana police meanwhile were heartbreaking. Desperate depositors were thronging the Mirihana Police Station seeking solace. Their faces spoke volumes as they related their individual stories of ant and need of how they collected these moneys. Most of the depositors were retired persons some in their ’70s who had invested their moneys to get a good monthly income as a pension.
One old mother who was in her early ’80s accompanied by her granddaughter was seen going behind every single police officer that she came in contact with, to find out as to what action the police have taken so far to get back their money.
Speaking to The Morning Leader in a feeble voice Karunawathie (name changed on her request) said that she has invested Rs. 14 lakhs, which her daughter has sent from Abudhabi for the past 11 years. "My daughter is a single mother and has three children. After toiling hard from morning till late evening she has earned this money and all the money was invested with this company," she said tears pouring down her weathered cheeks.
Cheated the residents
Some victims accused one Sandya Chandrika Kumari who they said happened to be a Sales Executive at Sakvithi Group of being boarded in Malambe, Rukmalgama and also in Rajagiriya for the past five years. They alleged she had cheated the residents of a sum amounting to Rs. 15 lakhs.
Meanwhile a young boy who did not wish to give his name alleged Sandya was his girlfriend for the last four years and that she had cheated him too and his brothers amounting to Rs. 5 lakhs.
The angry crowd on Tuesday was almost lying in wait at the Mirihana police station premises for this Sandya and one K.B. Kesera a manager attached to the Sakvithi Group who are now in police custody.
"These two were the force behind Ranasinghe," the victims alleged. Meanwhile the Mirihana police have found it extremely difficult to handle all the complaints within a day and have issued tokens to all the victims instead. Accordingly the police would accept only 200 complaints per day The Morning Leader learns.
Thilak Jayalath from Wattala told The Morning Leader that when he went to Sakvithi Group to find out the details of their interest rates he had met Ariyadasa who had advised him to invest his money with them, as it was a reliable place. "When I went to Sakvithi the other day Ariyadasa patted me and requested me to invest with them. I deposited Rs.20 lakhs and my brother Rs.2 lakhs."
"He is innocent"
However it is learnt that no charges have been levelled against Ariyadasa and that he has maintained to the police that he is innocent and did not know anything about it. The Morning Leader tried numerous times to contact Edwin Ariyadasa to get his comments but was unable to contact him.
However victims too are confused as to who is at fault. Amal Vithanage from Homagama told The Morning Leader that he was not cheated by Sakvithi Ranasinghe but by the Sakvithi staff.
"I deposited Rs.5 lakhs on Friday September 19 but came to know that Ranasinghe has fled the country on September 9. When I went to Sakvithi this particular Sandya told me that she is a lawyer and could accept the money on behalf of the company but since she was not the company lawyer she was unable to stamp the deposit certificate but will only place her signature. Now I understood that the women in custody (Sandya) is not a lawyer but only a Business Promotion Executive," Vithanage alleged.
Very high interest rates
According to a victim from Matale who had deposited a total of Rs.2 lakhs for the past seven months told The Morning Leader that Ranasinghe in August had informed him that he was going to import essential food commodities to the island and those who wish to invest in this project would receive very high interest rates and also they would be given a computer free of charge."
Calling Ranasinghe a wolf in sheep’s clothing he accused him of acting as a saint who always worked towards the benefit of innocent people. Perera from Kottawa told The Morning Leader that he (Ranasinghe) gave alms to the Buddhist priests in Nugegoda frequently and had spent money to hold dansalas during Veasak and Poson for the past few years.
"Since he acted as a saint we had no doubt about him and I deposited Rs. 10 lakhs with him. I am now left in the lurch and do not know what to do as I kept this money as a dowry for my daughter who is to be married next year. Only the gods above know whether all of us would get our hard earned money back or not. I am helpless now and do not know what to do without any income," Perera said.
A special unit has been deployed to arrest the
Board of Directors — Mirihana Police
Sources from the Mirihana Police told The Morning Leader that they have already deployed a special team to nab the suspect Board of Directors and hope for a breakthrough at the earliest. "On the instructions of SSP Deshabandu Tennakoon, a police team led by OIC Chief Inspector Liyanage has started investigations and almost five suspects including a retired a Major in the Sri Lanka Army who worked for the Sakvithi Group of Companies that had direct involvement to the alleged corruption were taken into custody on Monday and are being questioned to get more details for a breakthrough," the sources said. According to the Mirihana Police the main suspect R.V.S. Weerakumara alias Sakvithi Ranasinghe appears to have fled the country with his family but there is no concrete evidence of his whereabouts. The police however said they had received information that Ranasinghe was a ‘casino king’. " We have information that the main suspect was a casino king." The police also told The Morning Leader that one of the Consultants of this Company the veteran Journalist Edwin Ariyadasa had visited the police station and stated that he did not have any involvement in this. The angry depositors who were at the police station when Ariyadasa came to the police swarmed round him to assault him and the police had to intervene to rescue him," the Mirihana police said.
Ariyadasa says:
Ariyadasa who came to the police station according to the Mirihana police and cleared his name stating he had no knowledge of the scam and was innocent of any wrong doing. The Morning Leader attempted several times to contact him to get his comments on this scam, but was unable to do so.
Sumana from Panagoda, Homagama
A mother of two Sumana had fainted when she came to know that Ranasinghe had cheated her and was inconsolable after learning that it was doubtful whether she would get back her money. "I deposited Rs.40 lakhs with Sakvithi last year and till August I got my monthly interest but when I came to know that we had been cheated by Ranasinghe I fainted. Since this company promised to give us a good interest rate I sold my land, which was at Bokundara, Piliyandala and deposited the entire amount. Now I have lost my money and also the land I inherited from my mother. We depended solely on the interest but now I do not know as to what will happen to us," Sumana said.
Nandana from Depanama, Pannipitiya
Nandana who was a student of Ranasinghe and very fond of this English master told The Morning Leader that he was a very devout Buddhist and had followed Buddhist principals. "We gave away alms to the poor and every year hold a dansala in Nugegoda and since I assumed that he was such a genuine person I had no doubt, and invested Rs 7 ½ lakhs last November. Since I was close to Ranasinghe I received the interest at the correct time and I have seen as to how he treated his clients. He never forgot to wish his clients on their birthdays and there are some instances where he has sent gifts to them. This is unbelievable and how on earth could I trust any person hereafter." Nandana said.
http://www.themorningleader.lk/20080924/Spotlight.html
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....is its not somethin very difficult to send money out to some europe country..
