Prestigious Galle Cricket Club (CC) controversial secretary Gajaba Pitigala has been accused of selling fake club memberships, Cricket Age reliably learns.
The accusations have been levelled by the cricket fans itself, who wanted to become the members of the club, but instead were cheated by Pitigala.
The victims have already brought the matter in some of club top officials knowledge and are preparing to lodge a police complaint in upcoming days.
According to the insiders, until February last year, Galle CC was offering 5,000 (2,000 deposit + 3,000 per year) membership plan, in order to increase the members. Now it has been stopped, as club offers 13,000 (10,000 deposit + 3000 per year) plan for its new members.
The accusations are that Pitigala, a controversial figure, has made fake members through both the plans.
“The club has already suffered a loss of more than SLR 1 million, as Pitigala asked those fake members to deposit payments into his own account, instead of club’s account” an insider at Galle CC told Cricket Age.
The sensational allegations have dented Galle CC image big time, as the victims, who were cheated through fake memberships, are gearing up to take appropriate action.
“It’s unbelievable that Mr. Pitigala was giving fake memberships for such a long time. Due to his sinful act, there are plenty of members with the same receipt numbers. We are definitely taking action against this fraudulent act” a cheated member told Cricket Age.
It is noteworthy that Pitigala has always been notorious for committing frauds. Few years ago, he was accused by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for selling Galle CC complimentary tickets. At present also, the SLC is carrying an inquiry against Pitigala, related to various irregularities committed by him at Galle CC.
