Tiger credit card scam probed

2007-04-21 20:35

London - British police are investigating a global credit card scam, allegedly linked to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels, which has conned thousands of British motorists out of cash, the BBC reported on Saturday.

BBC television said that the Sri Lankan government has claimed that its opponents, the Tamil Tigers, are behind the scam.

Complaints are currently being investigated in Edinburgh, Leeds, Nottingham, Bristol, Hull, Norwich, Peterborough and Bury St Edmunds, according to the BBC, which added that 200 of Britain's 9 500 petrol stations have been hit.

Tamil asylum seekers arriving in Britain are obtaining the card information and sending it to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said Maxwell Keegel, first secretary of the Sri Lankan High Commission in London.

"This police investigation on this scam involving the LTTE has been going on for some time," Keegel told AFP, adding that "huge sums" of money were involved.

"Even in parts of the UK where there aren't Asians living, you will find that the petrol stations ... are owned by Sri Lankan Tamils."

"That is because the LTTE loans money to these asylum seekers who come here to buy up petrol stations ... in a very organised manner.

He added: "Because of chip and PIN, since you cannot use the credit card details that you have scammed in the UK, the money is withdrawn in Thailand which is where the LTTE's procurement arm operates from."

- AFP