Three men jailed over bank deception bid
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Three men were given jail sentences ranging from three years to three and a half year at the District Court today (October 16) after being convicted of using fake Letter of Credit in a bid to deceive a local bank.

The court heard that the three defendants turned up at a local bank in Central on August 21, 2007 and produced a copy of a five billion Euros Standby Letter of Credit purportedly issued by a bank in United Kingdom.

The defendants then requested the local bank to send a message to another local bank confirming the availability of funds in their account.

The bank staff suspected the Letter of Credit was a forgery and reported the case to the Police. All the three defendants, aged between 47 and 61, were arrested on the spot.

A search of one of those arrested revealed other correspondence and supporting documents confirming the issuance of the supposed Letter of Credit.

The Commercial Crime Bureau took over the case for further investigation and confirmed that all the documents seized were false.

The defendants were later charged with using a copy of false instrument and possession of false instruments. They were convicted of all the charges and sentence were handed down today.

Police Report No.3
Issued by PPRB

Ends/Thursday, October 16, 2008
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