Customs officers at Bhomra land port in Bangladesh have unearthed a trading scam apparently organised by fraudsters using forged letters of credit (L/Cs).

Officials say they suspect this activity may have been going on for some time.

Short payment

Investigations began after it emerged that an onion exporter had not received payment for goods imported by what appeared to be a Bangladeshi company called Almira International.

Meanwhile, the exporter told investigators that he had shipped the onions because he was in receipt of L/Cs from South East Bank.

No records

When investigators checked with the Dhaka-based bank to see if it had a record of L/Cs opened by Almira International, bank officials said they opened no L/Cs in the name of M/s Almira International.

Investigators also went to the address shown in the L/C documentation for Almira International but failed to locate an importing firm of that name.

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