The evidence linking defendant 1 to the forgery of the gate certificates stems from the fact that it was only by means of them that the goods in the four containers could be released. In addition, the prosecution relies on the recorded conversation between defendants 2 and 3, and on the fact that defendant 1 received the goods and took care of their sale and receipt of the proceeds.
In summary, the prosecution argues that all the offenses attributed to defendant 1 in the framework of the first indictment were proven, since this defendant led to the opening of a letter of credit that was drafted by him with the aim of thwarting the beneficiary by means of various reservations. He made sure that the bill of lading was prepared in accordance with the order of Contel, which is an inactive shell company, and created a false representation that the ordering party was a legitimate commercial company. By drafting the letter of credit in such a way as to allow the release of the goods without the letter of credit being honored, an intention to defraud was proven. The defendant received the bill of lading prepared for Contel's order from the freight forwarder Transdor, thereby the defendant committed the offense of receiving something (i.e., the bill of lading) fraudulently and under aggravated circumstances.
As an additional offense of fraudulent receipt under aggravated circumstances, the prosecution sees the very receipt of the contents of the first container.
As for the additional containers, these are offenses of forgery and use of forged documents, and fraudulent receipt, as far as the contents of the containers are concerned.
The circumstances of the commission of the offenses lead to the conclusion that these offenses were committed under aggravated circumstances.
The use of forged import receipts, with the intention of misleading the customs official, constitute separate offenses against the Customs Ordinance, and are also offenses under the VAT Law.
The prosecution seeks to convict Defendant 1 of all the offenses attributed to him in this charge.