Police have charged a woman, 42, and a man, 34, jointly with one count of conspiracy to defraud.

They were arrested yesterday together with four others for using false bank statements and fraudulent commercial invoices for drawing credit facilities of $9.8 million from local banks.

The pair will appear in the Eastern Magistrates' Courts tomorrow, while the remaining three men and one woman, aged 32 to 52, are on bail.

On October 17, a 34-year-old man told Police his 42-year-old garment-trading partner had earlier used his local incorporated company to obtain letter-of-credit facilities totalling $9.8 million from three local banks.

When the credit facilities were exhausted and the company failed to repay the banks by August, he lost contact with the woman.

The Commercial Crime Bureau found the company had submitted false audit reports, forged bank statements and fraudulent commercial invoices to the banks. 

The bureau also discovered the man, together with two other men, aged 32 and 52, was also involved in related bank-loan fraudulent activities. A 43 year-old man was responsible for dispensing the cash after drawing down the credit facilities.

Another company owner, a 41-year-old woman, was  found to have produced fraudulent commercial invoices to suggest she had had dealings with the company.

SME fund guaranteed $1m of proceeds

The bureau learned that the Small Medium Enterprise Loan Guarantee Scheme had guaranteed $1 million of the $9.8 million loan.

Police today arrested the four men and two women at their homes. They also seized banking documents, computers and a fax machine from two offices in Tai Kok Tsui and Tsim Sha Tsui.