After a Singapore company fell victim to a scheme to compromise business correspondence and transferred $42.3 million to a bogus supplier, police with the help of Interpol intercepted the money in East Timor. This was the largest refund in history.
The criminals, posing as a supplier, sent a fake letter to the Singapore-based company on July 15 asking them to transfer the expected payment to a new bank account in Timor-Leste. The letter contained minor misspellings of the address of the actual supplier. Unaware of the fraud, the company transferred $42.3 million on July 19. Four days later, the fraud came to light when the real supplier claimed he had not been paid, prompting a police report.
– Singaporean police promptly requested assistance from the Timor-Leste authorities through Interpol’s Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) mechanism, which expedites requests for assistance in financial crimes in 196 countries.
– On July 25, Singapore police received confirmation that $39 million had been discovered and held in the account of a fake supplier.
– Timor-Leste authorities arrested seven suspects, resulting in an additional recovery of over $2 million.
– “Measures are being taken to return the stolen funds to the victim in Singapore,” the press release states.
Interpol has demonstrated its effectiveness in the fight against financial crimes by using the I-GRIP mechanism to intercept hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit funds. This case highlights the importance of international cooperation in combating financial fraud.
