Man jailed for six years over Rs. 1.95m housing fraud

Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama sentenced an individual from Mount Lavinia to six years of rigorous imprisonment yesterday (02) after finding him guilty of defrauding one million nine hundred and fifty thousand rupees by falsely promising a National Housing Development Authority apartment in Slave Island.

The convicted man, identified as Asoka Sisira Kumara, was also ordered to pay a compensation of one hundred thousand rupees to the aggrieved complainant, with an additional six-month simple imprisonment stipuled in default of the compensation. The magistrate imposed two years of rigorous imprisonment for each of the three charges—fraud, criminal breach of trust, and submitting forged documents purporting to be government records—while rejecting a defense plea for a lighter sentence aimed at social reintegration due to the accused having a young child.

Officers from the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau, including police sergeant (41056) Kumarasiri and police constable (91896) Madushan, presented facts during the long-standing trial which began in 2021, revealing that the accused had handed over the house key and fraudulent documents made to look like housing authority records to the victim.