November 25, Colombo (LNW): Mohammed Hilmi, the former head of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), has been taken into custody by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over suspected wrongdoing linked to a foreign job placement initiative.
CIABOC officers arrested Hilmi in connection with what investigators describe as a questionable procedure used during the recruitment of Sri Lankan workers for employment opportunities in Israel.
The alleged irregularities are said to have taken place under the previous administration, during a period when concerns were repeatedly raised about transparency in foreign employment programmes.
The matter had already drawn political attention earlier, when former Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara was arrested over the same episode and later released on bail pending further inquiries.
