NCJ Number
115841
Date Published
1987
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The most effective measure to prevent fraud in the use of letters of credit in international business transactions is careful investigation to determine the genuineness of the transaction.
Abstract
A letter of credit is intended to ensure that both the buyer and seller in a transaction properly complete their commitments. In a letter of credit, the buyer's bank opens a letter of credit in favor of the seller, promising to pay the amount stated providing the seller presents specified documents. These documents are typically evidence that the seller has delivered on what was promised. There are three possibilities of fraud in a letter-of-credit transaction: the buyer's intentions could be fraudulent, the seller's intentions could be fraudulent, or the financial intermediary's intentions could be fraudulent. The most common fraud is for a seller to fake manufacture and delivery of the goods promised. A case example of such fraud is presented in this paper (A.M. Aronson's arrangement to sell antibiotics to two Austrian trading companies). In this case, a thorough investigation of the transaction could have saved the banks involved a large amount of money and years of expensive litigation.