The police arrested three men who were in possession of an invalid bank cheque in the sum of $5.8 million at about 15:00 hrs yesterday at Broad Street, Charlestown.
According to reports, the men had tried to use the cheque at the Dalip Trading Store on Broad Street to purchase steel plates, angles and hollow sections.
An employee, who requested anonymity, said the three men went to the store claiming to have a cheque from a construction company to buy some materials. He said he immediately sensed that something was wrong and did his own investigation.
The cheque, he said, turned out to be fraudulent and he alerted the police who caught one of the men red-handed with the cheque. Only one of the men had entered the store, the employee said, while the other two remained in a car outside.
An eyewitness to the incident said he was standing outside his home when he saw a man hurry into a green Toyota 192 car with tinted windows. A few minutes later, it was intercepted by plain clothes police officers, in front of a building on Broad Street.
Investigators said that so far, they have received reports of two business places being scammed in a similar manner to the value of some $5 million.
The men are in police custody assisting with investigations.
