A metal distributor in Central Florida was purchasing large quantities of raw material from a producer in Brazil. The victim received a spoofed “one-off” email purportedly from the producer that all remittances should be paid to a new banking relationship at SunTrust Bank. The perpetrators convinced the distributor the account was authentic and within several days had remitted more than $4.4 million to the bogus account. Upon retention in this matter and in working with outside counsel, and John Doe civil suit was filed and working in concert we recovered more than 50% of the loss, including the recovery of $250,000 from one of the “money mules” located in South Carolina. In the end, more than 20 suspects from the Atlanta, GA area were indicted and arrested for numerous BEC frauds to include our client.
A Mid-Atlantic Coastal restaurant chain began purchasing food and restaurant supplies from a national vendor. The restaurant chain began remitting approximately $800,000 weekly to the vendor for the deliveries by ACH. Unbeknownst to the restaurant chain, unknown perpetrators intruded into the email traffic between the vendor and the accounts payable department of the restaurant chain by a “one-off” email address and re-directed the payment of $821,000 to an account controlled by the perpetrators. The receiving bank in this case was made aware of the fraudulent transfer and froze approximately $183,000 of the money and returned to the victim restaurant chain. Through our investigation and forensic examination of the email traffic it was determined the email intrusion had occurred on the part of the national vendor and through their negligence the loss had occurred. Outside legal counsel for the restaurant chain was able to negotiate a settlement with the national vendor and the victim restaurant chain was absolved of paying the balance due.
A married couple from South Florida was purchasing a home in North Carolina. The closing was to be conducted by a settlement agent in North Carolina and involved a real estate agent in the local area. Prior to closing, fraudsters intruded into the email traffic between the realtor, settlement agent and the buyer through a “one-off” email and spoofed wire instructions resulting in the closing funds of $581,000 being mis-directed to an attorney’s trust account in South Florida, This attorney who was also “conned” by the fraudsters and into opening an “Escrow File” for payment of services to a company in Panama. As a result, the misdirected funds were wired from the attorney in South Florida to an account in Panama. Working with the US and Panamanian banks, the South Florida attorney and one of the “money mules” in Panama we were successful in complete recovery of the stolen funds.
An international transport company in South Florida was doing business with an international logistics company in Houston, Texas to arrange shipment of approximately 700 tons of steel rail from China to Mexico. The transport company was in contact by email with the logistics company for several months prior to March 2021 by email. Fraudsters intruded into the email traffic between the transport company and the logistics company by way of a “one-off” spoofed email. Fraudulent wire instructions were sent to the transportation company and $360,950 was mis-directed to an account in New York. The initial “money mule” was found to be a money launder and part of the fraud group. The investigation involved the tracing of funds to numerous individuals and banks in the Atlanta, GA and South Florida areas. Working with agents from Homeland Security we were successful in identifying nine individuals that were involved in the laundering of the stolen money and this group was found to have been involved in numerous other BEC and Romance Schemes frauds. While the criminal investigation continues, our investigation resulted in the successful execution of restraining orders on several bank accounts and the seizure or more than $60,000. This is an on-going investigation and additional recoveries are anticipated.
A South Florida title agent received an email purporting to be from a lender with revised pay-off instructions regarding a mortgage in the amount of $500,871.36. The email instructions were sent by a “one-off” email and contained spoofed wire instructions. The agent wired the funds to the target account specified in the falsified wire instructions and he found out almost one month later, the real lender had not been paid off or satisfied. The agent hired a law firm and this agency to investigate and recover money. In so doing, we found the target bank had determined the account was involved in fraudulent activity and they froze more than $187,000 and returned the money to the title agent. We initiated an investigation with legal counsel to follow the money and recover the remaining funds. In so doing we identified four individuals who were directly involved in laundering the stolen proceeds. To date, almost $100,000 has been recovered from the suspect’s accounts and in working with agents with Homeland Security, we anticipate additional recoveries.
A real estate attorney in South Florida handled the closing of a vacant sale of a lot in southwest Florida in December 2021 wherein the buyer was paying for the lot in cash. The total sale price was $750,000. The closing was handled remotely through e-mail and wire transfer. The purported seller was a foreign national not living in the United States. The seller provided proof of their identification in the form of a fraudulent passport and directed the sale proceeds to be wired to two banks in Vietnam. After the money had been sent to the banks in Vietnam, the attorney became suspicious due to a request made by the seller in order for the funds to become available in Vietnam. He investigated and determined the purported seller had stolen the identity of the true owner and had fraudulently sold the property to the buyer without the knowledge or consent of the real owner of the property. He immediately recalled the wires and were retained by the title insurance underwriter to assist. In working with Homeland Security and the banks in Vietnam, the attorney was able to make a 100% recovery of the stolen money for the benefit of the buyer.
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