A group has defrauded the public in the Northern Province of over Rs. 50 million under the guise of staging a singing competition using the name of a fake radio channel, it was reported.
According to Daily News, the suspects had issued a notice announcing a singing competition in the Northern Province with the 10 finalists being awarded cash prizes of hundreds of thousands of rupees.
Those interested had been asked to deposit Rs. 17,500 to a bank account named by the organizers, while more than 5,000 young people from many areas including Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Jaffna had entered the competition.
The suspects had also advertised a few programmes of the first round through a Facebook page and had announced an entry fee of Rs. 25,000 for those wishing to participate in the second round. They had also sold a ticket for Rs. 1,000 each for spectators who wanted to view the competition.
The scam was exposed when nearly 1000 people showed up at the relevant place in Mannar to view the finals of the second round of the competition, but the organisers had not shown up and their phones had been disconnected.
A large number of complaints have been filed with various Police stations in the Northern Province with regard to the scam. The Police are yet to arrest the suspects who have fled Mannar with over Rs. 50 million that was collected through the scam. (NewsWire)
