§ 01The brief
The distributor paid a 50% deposit of $1,350,000 for six containers. The shipping documents turned out to be forged and the 'factory' address was a residential building.
§ 02What I did
- 1.
Checked the supplier's registration, shipping records and bill of lading numbers, and confirmed none of the containers existed.
- 2.
Had the distributor's bank send a recall and fraud notice to the overseas receiving bank, supported by the forged documents.
- 3.
Filed the CCS report and referred the case to the overseas police through the bank's correspondent.
§ 03The outcome
The overseas bank froze $480,000. Return took four months through the bank's own process. The remaining funds had been moved on.