mufc1959 wrote:Yes, the cheques have been replaced by "Lawful and Legal Tender" notes. Here you can see the old cheque and the new note. The wording on the new note "This note is legal and lawful tender for all debts public and private" is adapted from US Federal Reserve notes.
The difference between the notes is quite significant. The old notes would appear to be intended to represent cheques, that is, they were an instruction from the customer to Were Bank ordering them to pay the entity named on the 'cheque' the sum of money specified.
The new notes are promissory notes. While the Were Bank name is emblazoned on the top the agreement is nothing more than a promise from the individual signing the note that they will pay the entity addressed. The fact that it is on Were Bank headed paper cut to the same size as a cheque and lists a sort code and other information commonly found on a cheque would seem to be mere detail - they are no longer cheques.
The 'Legal and Lawful Tender' part is interesting, though, as that is still a claim made by Peter and, presumably, supported by the person signing the note. The note is, obviously, not legal or lawful tender in any jurisdiction I can think of, but is it an offence to claim that it is?
Fraud Act 2005, Section 2
- A person is in breach of this section if he—
- dishonestly makes a false representation, and
- intends, by making the representation—
- to make a gain for himself or another, or
- to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.
- A representation is false if—
- it is untrue or misleading, and
- the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading.
[...]
Fraud Act 2005, Section 7
Making or supplying articles for use in frauds
- A person is guilty of an offence if he makes, adapts, supplies or offers to supply any article—
- knowing that it is designed or adapted for use in the course of or in connection with fraud, or
- intending it to be used to commit, or assist in the commission of, fraud.
A complication may be that, if the person signing the note believes - potentially without any doubt - that the statements made on the note are true, then they might not have committed fraud. If not, has Peter? While Peter may have made a false representation to his customers, has he also made this to the third parties who have received the notes through the independent actions of the customers? Does the expectation that the customers will issue these notes matter here - that is, has Peter made this representation to the third party as well as the customer? Does Peter himself, honestly and without doubt, believe that promissory notes are legal and lawful tender? Is this statement sufficient to make the note fraudulent?
Another possibility that has occurred to me, and is possibly the view taken by the Were Bank customers, is that the the new promissory notes could be notes
issued on Were Bank's behalf under the authority of the member - much as a company might delegate such authority to individuals in their finance team. Given the relative prominence of the Were Bank name, address, contact details etc. compared to the name of the customer this might be a reasonable expectation, and might be a troublesome one for Peter. If a cheque is returned unpaid then the bank is not out of pocket, if a promissory note, signed by an apparently authorised person and confirmed and authorised by fax, is unpaid then Were Bank could be held liable directly if it is issued in their name and not that of the member.
I must say, I feel it inevitable that an old cheque or a new promissory note is tested in a European court before too long and I really hope that Peter himself gives evidence as to how he believes these things work minus the aliens, fairies and wishful thinking.
On a separate matter, I don't think simply claiming an item is legal tender is enough to be caught under the counterfeiting law, at least in the UK. That seems to be phrased as
'a counterfeit of a currency note or of a protected coin'. My interpretation of that is that the counterfeit is something that doesn't simply claim to have the same property as a currency note, but is intended to be mistaken for a specific original item. I don't think we can claim that for the new Were Bank notes.
Finally, I note that the telephone number is now given in an attempt at international format, presumably in recognition of the expansion to other countries. The attempt is (in keeping with the rest of the
cheque note) actually gibberish. The international access code is not necessarily 00, and the use of brackets varies from country to country and this sort of ambiguity must be avoided in the international format. The correct presentation would be +44 7455 372365. While this sort of nonsense attempt might be expected of someone whose only use of international calls is to call back to the UK while abroad themselves, I would not expect this of someone familiar with international business as it is likely to result in many failed attempts to contact him. I do wonder if this is by design.