On or about January 18, 1999, defendant 1 ordered goods from a supplier under the name of "Regent Technologies Corp." from Taiwan (hereinafter: "Regent"), 1501 17-inch computer screens, priced at US$191 each, by Haim Buchris. Defendant 1 approached Transdor in a tax appeal in order to arrange the transportation of cargo from Taiwan to Israel.
Criminal appeal alleged in the indictment, on February 8, 1999, the defendant requested to open a letter of credit at Bank Leumi in favor of the supplier of the goods, in the sum of $288,500, through lentex.
One of the conditions appearing in the letter of credit was that the bill of credit would be prepared in accordance with the Contell Ltd. Ordinance., and also known to M.R.L.D. Ltd.-Vloss. According to the prosecution, these were three straw companies, which were used by defendant 1 for the purpose of carrying out the fraudulent acts.
Another condition in the letter of credit was that it would become operational only after receiving a telegram from the opening bank, confirming that the letter of credit could be activated. Although this condition was not met, the goods supplier Regent sent the goods to Israel in five containers, which were loaded in three separate shipments. The supplier contacted the notifying bank with the relevant documents in order to receive the consideration for the goods, but his request was refused on the grounds that the letter of credit had not yet become operational. The supplier contacted the bank that opened the letter of credit through the notifying bank, and asked that it contact its customers in order for them to agree to make the letter of credit operational and, after removing the reservation, allow the repayment of the letter of credit.
The indictment alleges that on March 17, 1999, one of the five containers containing the shipment arrived in Israel. Upon the arrival of the container, Transdor notified this in a tax appeal to defendant 1. A few days later, defendant 1, through the customs broker Mentfield (1983) Ltd., contacted Transdor and requested the release of the goods according to an original bill of lading drawn up for the Contel Ltd. Ordinance., and is converted with a stamp. Contel Investments Limited