Former Sri Lanka Ambassador to the US, Jaliya Chitran Wickramasuriya, on Saturday pleaded guilty to defrauding the Lankan government.
Zulfick Farzan, writing in Sri Lankan publication 'News 1st' said that Jaliya Chitran Wickramasuriya, 61, of Arlington, Virginia attempted to misappropriate USD 332,027during the Sri Lankan government's 2013 purchase of a new embassy building in Washington.
An investigation led by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Washington, field office led to a guilty plea by Wickramasuriya for diverting and attempting to embezzle funds from the government of Sri Lanka.
Wickramasuriya served as an ambassador for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the United States and to Mexico from 2008 to 2014.
He pleaded guilty in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charge carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison and potential financial penalties reported 'News 1st'.
According to court documents, Wickramasuriya devised a scheme to defraud the government of Sri Lanka by inflating the price of the real estate transaction by USD 332,027 and, at closing, diverting those funds from the government to two companies that had no role in the real estate transaction.
"Wickramasuriya attempted to use the position of authority to defraud his own government and steal from the people he represented," said Special Agent in Charge Ray Villanueva of HSI Washington. "He did not expect the American authorities to get involved and call on HSI Washington to investigate. Today he begins the process of paying for his crimes," he added.
The HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move.
( With inputs from ANI )
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