ALERT ON BAD CHEQUES

The alert issued by the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) cautioning against acceptance by business houses of either manager’s or certified cheques outside of business hours or on weekends has pointed to yet another troubling area of concern. In addition, DOMA has warned    individuals who place advertisements in the media for the sale of valuable items to be on guard against scamps who may offer bad cheques.

Cheques which are dishonoured by banks because there are no funds to cover them can cause considerable hardship not simply to business houses, but adversely affect employment levels in the community. In extreme cases, some small businesses may be forced to close their doors as a result of being hit with a series of relatively large cheques which are later dishonoured, or to lay off some of their workers. And even though there are laws in Trinidad and Tobago which make the tendering of cheques that are not covered by funds a crime, punishable even by a jail term, yet there are individuals offering such cheques clearly with the intent to defraud. DOMA, in a move to protect its members and business people generally has been careful to point out the need by them to be on guard against “customers” unknown to them, who offer certified cheques or managers cheques outside of hours when it can be verified readily that the instruments are fully backed by cash.           

There are too many “smartmen” today, many of them well dressed and well spoken, who prey on the understandable desires of businessmen/women to have a turnover of their goods, so that they can pay their creditors as well as employees. Unfortunately, in the case of cheques later dishonoured by banks, and where the persons are unknown to the companies, while there is a movement of goods, there is not the anticipated money either to pay for them, the utilitiy bills or the employees. And while the fraudulent acts may be reported to the police, sometimes the losses may never be recovered as the cheques are all too often forgeries bearing wrong names and addresses. DOMA’s members, a release from the association has advised, have lost more than $1.5 million within recent weeks through bogus cheques. It is a call by its members to take needed defensive action.

A possible strategy will be for the merchants to install surveillance cameras above their cashiers to photograph suspicious characters, who present cheques which because of the late hour cannot be verified that day. Following this the cheques can be refused, but the faces of those who tendered them will be on record and their photographs circulated to members of the Association. In cases, in which the individuals are recognised as having passed ‘bounced’ cheques earlier the advice with accompanying pictures can be passed on to the police for necessary action. Something positive has to be done and quickly before more damage is done to DOMA members and by extension, the economy.