A Musselburgh man has been cleared of attempting to commit fraud at a Montrose bank after the Crown dropped its case against him.
Mark Boggie (28), of Stoney Hill Road, appeared at Arbroath Sheriff Court on charges alleging he presented a bogus cheque for £16,700 at the Bank of Scotland on April 20.
Depute fiscal Nicola Gillespie told the court that the cheque was purportedly from Mountwest Petroleum Engineering, which is based in Arbroath.
Under questioning from Ms Gillespie, Lesley Ann Haggart the customer service adviser who served Boggie on the day in question said she became immediately suspicious considering the high value of the cheque.
She said, “I wasn’t happy because of the amount and because I had never seen that company coming into the branch before.
“It was not a normal transaction for the branch.”
Ms Gillespie asked Ms Haggart if Boggie, in the dock, was the person who had presented her with the cheque.
Ms Haggart replied, “He does look familiar but I’m not 100% sure because it was a long time ago.”
The court then heard that Ms Haggart had summoned assistance from her business manager Scott Brown for advice on how to deal with the situation and had asked Boggie to be seated while he waited.’Not bothered’Defence agent Billy Rennie asked Ms Haggart about Boggie’s behaviour and whether or not any of his actions had indicated that he was agitated.
Ms Haggart, who said she had dealt with fraud previously in that branch of the bank, said that Boggie had not seemed “bothered.”
She said, “He had a seat and just waited. They normally get up and leave.”
The court then heard from Mr Brown, who confirmed he had contacted the police as a result of the incident, after which Boggie was questioned in an interview room in the bank.
He agreed that in previous analogous cases those who have attempted to cash fraudulent cheques were “unlikely to stay” in the premises.
When questioned by Ms Gillespie, Mr Brown could also not confirm that he recognised Boggie as the person who had presented the cheque.
Ms Gillespie said that on the back of the evidence delivered, the Crown would not be seeking a conviction.
Sheriff Norrie Stein told Boggie, “You have been found not guilty. You are free to go.”