PHILIPSBURG--Windward Islands Bank (WIB) and Chase Bank, Tampa, Florida, were swindled out of US $365,000 in February and March, it emerged from Wednesday's sitting of the Court of First Instance.

R.G.B. (47) and Z.K.B.F. (37) stood trial in a sizzling hot courtroom Wednesday morning, due to the fact that the air-conditioning was not working.

The Prosecutor's Office is holding the couple responsible for falsely cashing eight cheques of a company named Associated Accommodations at WIB by using false signatures. They are also accused of having defrauded Chase Bank in Tampa, Florida, of $32,000.

Both suspects are also charged with the attempted swindle of WIB to the amount of $12,000 by using a so-called point of sale machine.

The case against the two alleged swindlers was postponed until October 27, because R.C.G. was in Trinidad to attend his daughter's wedding.

Attorney-at-law Shaira Bommel, who will be representing both defendants in this case, also requested a postponement because, in the aftermath of Hurricane Earl and the following power outages, she hadn't had sufficient time to prepare the case, she told the court