A forged letter of credit (L/C) may have helped spark a chlorine gas leak earlier this month in India.

The leak, which led to an explosion at a warehouse in the Mumbai suburb of Sewri, led to at least 120 people being taken to hospital.

Unclaimed shipment

The explosion is thought to have occurred in a canister belonging to one of several shipments of imported gas at the warehouse that had not been picked up by a buyer.

One official suggested to local media that one or more of the shipments might have been there illegally.

Forged L/C fraud

He says that a common fraud involves shipments under a fake L/C being delivered to a certain address.

The official says that in this scam, once the shipment arrives, nobody turns up to pick it up.

The goods are subsequently auctioned and bought, apparently quite legally, at a knock down price by the perpetrators of the fraud.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.