4 charged for bank fraud

FOUR people including a 19-year-old woman will appear before an Arima Magistrate today charged with larceny after they deposited blank envelopes into a commercial bank’s ATM and then withdrew cash.

Newsday has learnt that since May 18, an estimated 4,000 empty envelopes were deposited in the bank’s ATMs across the country. It is a scheme which takes advantage of a glitch in that bank’s system which allows customers to withdraw money from cheques immediately after they make deposits.

A source at the Fraud Squad told Newsday that the scheme quickly gained momentum after a Whatsapp message was broadcast informing the public that once they have an ATM card, they could access ‘free’ money. One clever criminal even made an instructional video on how to ‘get’ the ‘free’ money.

Those who did not have accounts with the bank borrowed the cards of relatives for the scheme. One of the accused was held by police when he went to make a report on May 21 that he had lost his bank card three days before. Police said the man told them he lost the card to his account, which contained $3.84, and he wanted to make a report.

But bank records showed the man’s card had been used extensively over the weekend to withdraw cash. Most of the withdrawals were for $3,000. He eventually broke down and told investigators he had given the card to a ‘partner’ who promised him cash in return for using it. There were several posts on social media warning people not to lend their cards as they would be responsible for any activity it is used for.

Police say they hope to arrest others in the coming weeks as the investigation gains momentum. Newsday tried reaching out to the bank’s officials for comment but no one was willing to speak.