Two to repay bank in blank-cheque fraud

THE present Electronic Transfer of Funds Act, which deals with electronic crime, does not establish a criminal offence when a bank-card holder uses his card to commit fraud.

So say the police, who have had to charge people implicated in the recent blank-cheque fraud scam with larceny.

As part of the Fraud Squad’s investigations, a man and woman have pleaded guilty, while three others are before the courts on charges related to the alleged act.

The man and woman were ordered on Monday to repay RBCTT a total of $8,000 as part of a blank-cheque fraud operation.

The two – Samuel Slocum, 23, of Cascade, and Shnyka Baptiste, 19, of Wharton Street, Laventille – appeared before Port of Spain magistrate Cheron Raphael on Monday charged with using Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards to withdraw cash fraudulently.

Baptiste, a sales clerk, was arrested by the Fraud Squad after she was seen at an RBC ATM at Park Street, Port of Spain, on Friday.

She made two deposits using empty deposit envelopes and withdrew $3,000. Her bank account showed that she only had $363.36 in it and hence she was not entitled to make the larger withdrawal.

She was fined $500 and ordered to repay the $3,000 to the bank.

In a separate incident, Slocum, a labourer, went to a Scotiabank ATM at Park and Pembroke Streets, and, using an RBC bank card, deposited an empty deposit envelope and withdrew $2,100.

Investigators said he did not have the requisite money in his account to make the withdrawal.

He was fined $1,000, or three months’ hard labour in default, and ordered to pay the bank $5,000 in compensation.

Raphael granted three other men bail by Raphael on similar charges.

It is alleged that Emmanuel Thomas, 27, of Lopinot Road, Arouca, reported to the Fraud Squad that he lost his RBC bank card last Thursday.

Investigators alleged he only had $3.84 in his account but lent his card to Ronnel London, 31, of Pine Ridge, Lopinot, who allegedly gave it to Kareem Lynch, 28, of Bon Air Gardens.

Police alleged one of the men went to an RBC ATM at Trincity and deposited a blank envelope and withdrew $2,000. The man kept $1,000 for himself and split the remainder. All three were arrested and appeared before Raphael on Monday. The matter was transferred to the Arima Magistrates Court. Thomas was granted bail of $40,000, London $80,000 and Lynch $60,000. They were also ordered to report to the police station in their district three days a week.

Leading the investigations were acting Snr Supt Totaram Dookhie, ASP Kent Ghisyawan, Insp. Lisa Cudjoe, Insp. Dale Griffith and Cpl Vinelle Bassarath.

On Monday, RBCTT’s managing director Darryl White warned that people who tried to withdraw money from ATMs under the guise of a cheque deposit were committing a crime and the bank will prosecute perpetrators using “the full force of the law.”

“We know who you are and we will be prosecuting every single incident. We will recover every cent,” White said. He said several accounts have already been closed because of cheque-deposit fraud.