In large-scale investments, for example foreign shares, bonds, real property, gold, silver or precious stones, after depositing the purchase price or after the due date of redemption the payer may realise that they are the victim of fraud.

The telephone is no longer answered, faxes are not replied to, e-mails are undeliverable. A subsequent check reveals that the office has been vacated and the bank account closed. The directors have disappeared and so have the payments.

Victims often assume that their money has completely disappeared too. No doubt the perpetrators of the fraud have enjoyed some of the fruits of it, but they have probably banked, invested or spent some on capital goods. Maybe they think they have done so in a country where it cannot be found and from where it cannot be recovered.

Our experience is that there are few places where fraudster and their ill-gotten gains are completely safe. An investigation and a court order, as soon as the fraud is discovered, can bring about a substantial recovery. The sooner the investigation begins, the better. The warmer the trail, the greater the chance of success.

It is our task to ascertain in which country the money or other valuable property has been ‘parked’. We have a worldwide network of colleagues, built up over the years, who can help us in this. Their knowledge of local laws, language and culture are invaluable in this.

Subsequently a lawyer must be retained to carry out the judicial aspects of the case based on our report, and we should, perhaps, make it clear that we do not engage in actual debt collection: that is a bailiff’s task. In this kind of investigation, tracing persons, money and valuable property is our role.

After all, tracing has been one of the specialities of our staff for decades.

| Prevention Guide | Volume 6 | No: 4 | article 6 |

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