Police have arrested and charged two men after they tried to make a purchase at the Corozal Free Zone with a fake credit card.
At around 10:20 on Friday of last week Lisbeth Chi a cashier at a business establishment inside the Corozal Free Zone told police that two men of Hispanic descent came into her place of employment and purchased merchandise. It added up to US$1,084. The men pulled out a Mexican credit card and as the cashier swiped it she detected something was wrong. She requested assistant from a local bank agent and it was discovered that the card was fake. As a result two men, 23 year old Juan Bautista and 25 year old Freddy Canul both Mexican nationals were apprehended and escorted to the Corozal Police Station where they were charged.
They appeared in Magistrate's Court to answer to charges of possession of a forge document, uttering a false document and obtaining property by deception. Canul pleaded not guilty to all charges and was remanded to custody until May 18th while his accomplice Bautista pleaded guilty to possession of a forged document and obtaining property by deception. He was fined $3,000 and $10 cost of court. He was ordered to pay the fine immediately which he did.
Because of the increased incidence of credit card fraud taking place at the zone the police and the business community in the Free Zone have come up with a plan of action to curb this type of crime. It includes recommendations to amend the legislation to impose mandatory custodial sentences to perpetrators, the erection of a billboard near the Free Zone to advise the public of penalties as well as having the business community report the suspicious ATM transactions and to liaise with Mexican authorities with respect to credit card fraud. Training for Belizean police officers in detecting fake cards will also be sought.
