A self-contained village in Arugam Bay

The new management of Industrial Finance Ltd. will explore new opportunities in tourism in the North and East and venture in to many other projects in micro-finance.

a??We focused on the stable background of the company before acquiring it. Since 1962, Industrial Finance Ltd has been engaged in the business and it has an asset base of Rs. 2 billion. We felt that acquiring an old company might have a penetrative effect than a new company. Hence, we wanted to capitalize on Industrial Finance Ltd,a?? Chairman of Industrial Finance Ltd, Upul De Zoysa told Daily News Business.

During a recession, the confidence of customers on finance companies erodes but Industrial Finance Ltd. will work with the Central Bank and create an awareness among the public to invest in regulated bodies. The confidence on finance companies should be ensured by the Central Bank. As a finance company we will advise the public to invest only in registered finance companies, he said.

Industrial Finance Ltd. looks forward to investments in micro-finance, tourism and the pawning sector.

Tourism is the newest sector since we have substantial lands in Arugam Bay in the North-East and Bolgoda in the Western Province.

Therefore, we are working on a foreign collaboration to invest in these projects. A self-contained village in Arugam Bay will be set up in collaboration with a foreign leisure company, said De Zoysa.

Under the micro-finance programs we are working with the Central Bank to provide services to paddy farmers and other agricultural bodies such as tea smallholders, rubber planters and gem miners. We are targeting Government servants including the security forces through these micro-finance programs.

a??We will tie up with the Royal Bank of Scotland after initial discussions with the Central Bank. We wish to provide a professional service to our customers within the next three months. Mobile units will come into operation and we will set up ten branches including the Northern and Eastern provinces.

Thus we want to be a part of the development program the Government is implementing in the North and East. We wish to enter the Colombo Stock Market in another two years,a?? he said.

He said that Industrial Finance Ltd will be re-structured and training will be provided to the staff and new auditors and secretaries will be appointed under the new management.

Courtesy: DailyNews

5 Responses to “A self-contained village in Arugam Bay”


  • Sorry, if we have painted a wrong picture of the Bay’s attitudes, Joe!
    In fact the place is still OK, still it is a little self-contained paradise.
    Actually: racial, community and religious harmony exists in Arugam Bay.
    Much more so than in most other places of this tropical island.
    As everywhere, fresh investors need to be careful and double check with trustworthy people before making any decisions.
    Looking back, most problems and frauds were a direct or indirect cause of the activities by various Organizations following the December 2004 event.
    That is my own observation and opinion, I am sad to say.

  • Rohitha Jathunarachchi

    UK ‘fraudster’ in Sri Lanka investment

    2009-10-13 | 7.15 PM

    A Sri Lankan national under investigation by UK authorities for serious fradulanet activities including running a pyramid scheme and collecting millions of US Dollars from public has acquired The Industrial Financial Ltd. (IFL), one of the oldest finance houses in Sri Lanka.
    In a recent article in The Nation newspaper, the proprietor of Rok Millenium PVt. Ltd. has recently acquired IFL and the Rok Millenium’s chairman Upul De Zoysa has been appointed as the new chairman of the IFL. (see below for the full report in the Nation)

    Upul de Zoysa, a member of a well-connected Sri Lankan political family in UK, is charged in UK courts for serious fraud and, if convicted, faces a lengthy prison sentence.

    Mr. De Zoysa, Vibhava Fonseka, Sam Koralage and an American national are accused of luring hundreds of (if not more) people to ‘invest’ millions of USD in their ‘investment company’ offering a very big percentage of interest in return.

    The team have run a Madoff style pyramid scheme in UK.

    (High profile fraudster Bernard Madoff was earleir given the maximum prison sentence of 150 years by US authorities for masterminding a massive fraud that robbed investors of $65bn).

    After successfully running the pyramid scheme using unauthorised company called Euro Lanka Investment for few years, the interest payments have suddenly stopped as they sensed the troubles in the financial markets.

    It is understood that many prominent Sri Lankan personalities, as well as poor sections of the society, are among the victims.

    Some have even ‘invested’ money earned from selling or remortgaging their houses. One Sri Lankan victim in London ‘invested’ every cent earned as a taxi driver –day and night – but left with nothing as Mr. De Zoysa and the group said that they had no money at all to pay them back.

    In this background, it is unknown how Mr. De Zoysa has aquired IFL.

    It is extremely difficult in Sri Lanka to acquire or get involved in investment in Sri Lanka without the blessing – or even involvement -of Rajapaksa family.

    One victim, Rohitha Jathunarachchi in UK, was informed by the British detectives that Upul de Zoysa has already pleaded guilty to carrying on investment purposes without authority in the UK.

    The trial is to continue next year.

    LankaNewsWeb is happy to publish the response of Mr. de Zoysa, if he so wishes

  • What thats I hear all these bad things about arugam bay,
    many scams and racist incidents , I been there before 15 years

    and it was paradise with wonerfull people an undeveloped
    area ,seems to me that the place went bad over the years
    with the people greed going over to the sky , I guess
    that the end of the war only will make this place more spoild
    and evetually it will lose all the magic with in ,

    too bad but this is kind of ironic

  • Thank you, Mr. Rohitha, for this information.
    Arugam Bay and Okanda has had more than its fair share involving financial scams and scandals already.
    Many of which involved rouge and unqualified NGO’s of course.
    Therefore, any such information is always welcome.If possible, post further details or at least the source of your information.
    This would avoid suspicion that you are fighting a personal agenda here.

  • Rohitha Jathunarachchi

    At Court on the 28/9/2009 Mr DeZoysa pleaded guilty to carrying on investment purposes without authority in the UK. This offence carries a term of imprisonment.
    He is due to attend Court on 12/4/2010, although his actual trial is unlikely to be until late next year.
    FONSEKA and three others will stand trial on 12/4/2010.

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