Scandal at the Sri Lanka Counsel General’s Office in Toronto

Thursday, 03 October 2013

The Sri Lanka Counsel General’s Office in Toronto, Canada has come under fire for misconduct by an officer attached to it.
The scandalous act has taken place with the help of an infamous property dealer who had cheated money from innocent Sri Lankan Immigrants promising to grant them dual citizenship.

Wasantha Abeysiri, a Sri Lankan property dealer domiciled in Canada, has cheated money from a large number of Sri Lankan Immigrants in Canada promising to provide them dual citizenship.

Abeysiri has used contacts of his friends at the Sri Lanka Counsel General’s Office to mislead the victims.

Most of the victims who were caught up in this scam are reportedly Tamil immigrants who own property in Sri Lanka.
It has also been reported that the master mind of this scam, Wasantha Abeysiri was a former employee of the Bank of Montreal (BMO) and was allegedly terminated from the Bank due to a fraudulent cheque issue.

These victims, who were cheated by this scam, are facing immigration problems and property issues in their home country.
It is learnt that most property issues are related to unclear property titles in the properties they own in Sri Lanka.

The immigrants are reluctant to come forward and report these incidents to the relevant authorities in Canada due to the fear of deportation.

However, the Sri Lanka Counsel General’s Office in Toronto has responded to this allegation saying the mission did not have any contact with a person called Wasantha Abeysiri.

Consul General, Karunaratne Paranawithana has said that the mission was not accepting any applications for dual citizenship since the Sri Lankan government has temporarily stopped the process.

He has observed that the mission would initiate legal action against culprits who use the name of the consulate to cheat Sri Lankan immigrants.

Paranawithana has called on affected immigrants to visit the consulate and provide information about the scam.