Antedated Bill of Lading

[PhanThanhNhan]

Pls give your comments for the following case:
- Issuing bank: Bank A
- Beneficiary: XYZ Company
- L/C confirmed by Bank B
- Shipment date: not later than 25 May 2008
- The cargo was not shipped by 25 May 2008. The shipping agent and the ship owner agreed with the managing director of XYZ company to issue a B/L which was falsely dated so as to comply with L/C terms.
- XYZ Company presented the documents including the falsely dated B/L to Bank B under a covering letter signed by its managing director
- Although the documents were presented after the expiry date, Bank B antedated the date of receipt of documents and effected payment to XYZ Company
.
So, our questions are:
1. Are the beneficiary, the beneficiary’s managing director, the carrier and the carrier’s agent liable to Bank B for participation in a fraudulent scheme in a fraudulent scheme in antedating the B/L?
2. Should Bank B share some of the losses because it also antedated the covering letter to the issuing bank?
3. If the goods were destroyed by fire while keeping in the container yard but the B/L showed that they were already loaded on board (because of antedating), would the insurance company responsible for the loss?
4. Should we antedate the covering letter if the documents are received after the expiry date?

[DanielD]

See legal case: Standard Chartered Bank Bank v Pakistan National Shipping Corp. in "Leading Court Cases on Letters of Credit", ICC Publication 658 and Docdex 218
Regards
Daniel