FIB WARNS OF FAKE BANK GUARANTEES

By Muin Abdul Majid

DUBAI, Sept 4 (Bernama) -- The ICC Financial Investigation Bureau (FIB) has
urged banks to be vigilant following a spate of fraudulent bank guarantees
detected in recent months.

It said some of the guarantees, ranging from tens to hundreds of
millions of dollars, were offered as collateral for various deals while
others were for the benefit of named individuals.

All the documents were found to contain numerous inconsistencies and "red
flag"
terms that rendered them invalid, the bureau said.

" We have seen a number of fairly audacious attempts to extrapolate funds
from
members of the legitimate financial community," FIB director Pottengal Mukundan
said in a statement.

Elaborating, he said, these attempts varied in quality but all served to
show
the lengths that would-be fraudsters would go to in order to deceive victims out
of many millions of dollars.

The bureau said a number of these guarantees had been put forward as
collateral for large real estate deals, a sign that victims affected by the
current economic climate may be tempted by offers of hard to come by credit from
the fraudsters.

According to Mukundan, fraudsters were testing banks to see if they had
robust measures in place and, ultimately, expose their vulnerabilities.

" Those that are found wanting can be assured of more attacks in the future,
some of which may be successful," he added.

FIB advised banks to be aware of the increased risks posed by false
financial instruments and other documents.

" Some banks have taken the step of routinely having all documents above a
certain value checked by third-party specialists," added FIB, a specialised
bureau within the Commercial Crime Services under the International Chamber of
Commerce (ICC).

The FIB conducts enquiries and investigations into money laundering,
suspect documents and all forms of fraud, and has bona fides status with
the United Kingdom Home Office and Interpol.

-- BERNAMA