Trio jailed for letter of credit fraud
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	Three men aged between 36 and 49 earlier convicted of charges related to letter of credit fraud were today (February 28) sentenced to imprisonment ranging from four years to six years at the Court of First Instance.

	The court heard that between June and September 2005, the three defendants fraudulently applied to three banks for letters of credit with bogus business transaction documents.

    A total of 28 letters of credit were issued by the banks and a total amount of about $217 million was paid to the defendants.  The outstanding letter of credit loans amounted to $189.93 million.

	Enquiries by the Police Commercial Crime Bureau revealed that the letters of credit were purportedly for the purchase of steel but there was no genuine business transaction.

	The trio were subsequently arrested.  One of them was charged with conspiracy to defraud while the other two were charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. They were convicted of the charges at the Court of First Instance on February 14 and the sentence was handed down today.

Police Report No. 4
Issued by PPRB

Ends/Thursday, February 28, 2008
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