LTTE credit card fraud kingpin arrested

WELLAWATTE: The mastermind behind the international credit card fraud for funding the LTTE has been arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) while conducting a search operation in the Wellawatta area on Friday, Defence sources said.

The suspect Anandan, alias Neshanadan Muruganandan, was in a super luxury apartment in Wellawatta at the time he was arrested by the special police team. He had a large number of Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) and bank receipts issued by both local and foreign banks, amounting to over Rs. 100 million, in his possession.

He had cloned credit cards using PIN and card numbers obtained from unsuspecting cards holders in the United Kingdom. These funds were later transferred to the LTTE. British Police conducted several raids which proved that the cloned cards were being used in Sri Lanka to draw funds.