Two Africans trap Sri Lankans with cash-doubling magic

They promised victims that they could double their currency notes and replaced their rupee notes with that of fake dollars.

 

Several newspapers published the story of how two Africans in Colombo duped Lankans by promising them ‘double the cash’.

 

They modus operandi included establishing contacts with businesspeople. They introduced themselves as millionaire businessmen and met unsuspecting victims at exotic locales such as 5-star restaurants to “discuss deals”.

 

They then lured them with business proposals and convinced them into contributing with a minimum of [SriLankan] Rs 10million (Dh0.28m) towards a fictitious joint venture.

 

They were arrested when a car dealer caught them in action. The dealer had almost believed them in his greed to ‘double’ his cash. So he met them with Rs30lakh. After immersing the cash into a basin of water containing soap, they told the local businessmen that in order to continue the magic they needed more hot water and requested him to get some from the kitchen.

 

However, as he returned with the hot water, he caught them replacing the Sri Lankan Rs notes he had placed in the basin with US dollar notes from inside their pockets. He discovered they were fake US dollar notes. The Cameroonians attempted to flee the place, but the car dealer raised an alarm and his neighbours helped him nab the suspect.

 

Police confiscated fake currency notes, some chemicals, Rs12 lakhs in cash, stocks of blank paper and travelling from the bags Cameroonians’ house.

 

Further investigations are being conducted by the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau.
 

The suspects lived in a house along Temple Road, Maharagama, a suburb of Colombo.