Diary, predominantly through tales of Nigerian conmen and various gambling coups. Yet, there can be few cheekier and more blatant get rich quick schemes than one currently doing the rounds among some Bermuda-based international businesses.

An enterprise in England called World Telex Edition, which describes itself as an "international telecommunication subscriber service'', has been invoicing local companies for various amounts of money for services which have not actually been rendered.

One exempted insurance company was sent two bills for a combined amount of just under $100 for work which only existed in the mind of the sender. The false invoices were spotted by the company's boss before they were inadvertently paid and handed over to the Business Diary.

"This sort of thing used to go on a lot in Britain,'' said the company chief, who used to work as a chartered accountant in the UK.

"The accounting systems of some large firms used to be so poor that any bills sent in would automatically be paid without being checked first. So some people got paid for doing nothing.

"Accounting procedures have been tightened up considerably in recent years, though, and fewer of these false invoices are now getting through the system.'' He reckoned that people running these schemes probably earned a small fortune.

"For example, if someone sent out 5,000 invoices at $100 a time for a total amount of $500,000, it only has to work 20 percent of the time for them to receive $50,000,'' he said.

When the Business Diary asked directory information in England for the telephone number of World Telex Edition, which has an address of 94, Lillie Road, London, SW6 7SR, we were told it was a residential address and the number was ex-directory.

* * * IMM A misguided decision to flush their passports down the toilet of a British Airways flight from London to Bermuda may have cost three men from war-torn Liberia the chance of a new life in the United States.

The Africans evidently believed they were bound for the US, or, possibly, thought that Bermuda had become the 51st state, when they boarded BA flight 233 at Gatwick Airport on June 26, 1993, complete with tickets and proper documents.

The Liberians attempted to destroy their passports in mid-flight, apparently because they believed they could not obtain refugee status in the US if they had official documents.

Their hopes were quickly destroyed, though, when the plane arrived in Bermuda and immigration officials refused them entry, ironically because they didn't have any passports.

A few hours later, they were escorted onto the returning BA flight and taken back to London, where, last heard, they were being interviewed by the authorities and, in all probability, sent back to their homeland.

* * * SUR More US businesses, worried about the economy and trying to hold on to cash as long as possible, are taking longer to pay their bills, according to a new survey by Dun & Bradstreet Information Servicesa.

The survey shows that 6.2 percent more companies dragged their feet in the second quarter than the number of companies that paid bills promptly. The figure was 5.7 percent in the first quarter.

The survey was based on payment records of one million companies as reported by their suppliers to Dun & Bradstreet. The survey compares a company's bill paying habits with its behavior a year earlier.

Economists say tardy bill paying is a sign of a weak economy.

Businesses in the Far West, where the US economy is weakest, had the poorest record, according to the survey. The six New England states experienced the smallest drop in bill-paying performance.