[rescue] random babble

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

Leslie Connally wrote:

> Turned out, the sellers "Name" was portugese for "pay to the bearer" aka
> CASH in Portugese.. Total sham. Total fraud. Classic! All he had to do was
> wait for checks.  and run off to wherever and cash them.. w/ fake ID..
> untraceable

The Israeli banking system is based upon the U.K. banking system. ANY check
is "pay to the bearer" UNLESS it is "crossed". You cross a check by drawing
2 lines across the name and write out "PAY ONLY" next to it.

The most recent batch of checks (got them last month) had 
"pay only or pay to the bearer" preprinted on them in English and pay to
the bearer in Hebrew. If you want to cross them, you just draw the lines and
cross out BOTH "pay to the bearer" on them.

So by default, a check from the U.S. would be "pay to the bearer".  

Geoff.

-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson
Bloomberg L.P., BFM (Israel) 2 hours ahead of London, 7 hours ahead of New York.
Tel:  972-(0)3-754-1158 Fax 972-(0)3-754-1236 Email: gmendelson at bloomberg.com