by Essmi
Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:31 pm
Wan Yonghong
Standard Chartered Bank
Hong Kong Branch
Thank you for giving me your time. Please be patient and read my email
to you.
I am a staff of Standard Chartered Bank attached in Private Banking
services. I am contacting you concerning a customer and, an
investment placed under our banks management 4 years ago, I contacted
you independently of our investigation and no one is informed of this
communication and I would like to intimate you with certain facts that
I believe would be of interest to you.
In 2003, the subject matter; ref:SSCB/SCB/bank/77 came to our bank to
engage in business discussion with our Private Banking Service
Department. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of 8.35
million United States Dollars, which he wished to have us turn over
on his behalf. I was the officer assigned to his case; I made numerous
suggestions in line with my duties as the de-facto chief operations
officer of the Private Banking Service Department, especially given
the volume of funds he wished to put into our bank. We met on numerous
occasions prior to any investments being placed. I encouraged him to
consider various growth funds with prime ratings. The favored route in
my advice to customers is to start by assessing data on 600
traditional stocks and bond managers and alternative investments.
Based on my advice, we spun the money around various opportunities
and made attractive margins for our first month of operation, the
accrued profit and interest stood at t
his point at over 10 million United States Dollars, this margin was
not the full potential of the fund but he desired low risk guaranteed
returns on investments. In mid 2004, he asked that the money be
liquidated because he needed to make an urgent investment requiring
cash payments in Europe. He directed that I liquidate the funds and
had it deposited with a firm in Europe. I informed him that our bank
would have tomake special arrangements to have this done and in order
not to circumvent due process, the bank would have to make a 9.5 %
deduction from the funds to cater for banking and statutory charges.
He complained about the charges but later came around when I
explained to him the complexities of the task he was asking of us.
Cash movement across borders has become especially strict since the
incidents of 9/11.
I contacted my affiliate in Europe and had the funds available in main
land Europe. I undertook all the processes and made sure I followed
his precise instructions to the letter and had the funds deposited in
a security consultancy firm, the firm is a specialist private firm
that accepts deposits from high net worth individuals and blue chip
corporations that handle valuable products or undertake transactions
that need immediate access to cash. This small and highly private
organization is familiar especially to the highly placed and well-
connected organizations. In line with instructions, the money was
deposited. He told me he wanted the money there in anticipation of his
arrival from Norway later that week. This was the last communication
we had, this transpired around 25th February 2005. In June last year,
we got a call from the security firm informing us of the inactivity of
that particular portfolio. This was an astounding position as far as I
was concerned, given th
e fact that I managed the private banking sector I was the only one
who knew about the deposit, and I could not understand why he had not
come forward to claim his deposit. I made futile efforts to locate him
I immediately passed the task of locating him to the internal
investigations department of our bank. Four days later, information
started to trickle in, that he was apparently dead.
A person who suited his description was declared dead of a heart
attack in Cannes, South of France. We were soon enough able to
identify the body and cause of death was confirmed.
The bank immediately launched an investigation into possible surviving
next of kin to alert about the situation and also to come forward to
claim his estate. If you are familiar with private banking affairs,
those who patronize our services usually prefer anonymity, but also
some levels of detachment from conventional processes. In his bio-data
form, he listed no next of kin. In the field of private banking,
opening an account with us means no one will know of its existence,
accounts are rarely held under a name; depositors use numbers and
codes to make the accounts anonymous. This bank also gives the choice
to depositors of having their mail sent to them or held at the bank
itself, ensuring that there are no traces of the account and as I
said, rarely do they nominate next of kin. Private banking clients
apart from not nominating next of kin also usually in most cases leave
wills in our care, in this case; he died in testate.
What I wish to relate to you will smack of unethical practice but I
want you to understand something. It is only an outsider to the
banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking world
aberrational. The world of private banking especially is fraught with
huge rewards for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain
portfolios. You should have begun by now to put together the general
direction of what I propose. There is US$ 8,370,000.00 deposited, I
alone have the deposit details and they will release the deposit to
no one unless I instruct them to do so. I alone know of the existence
of this deposit for as far as the finance firm, the transaction with
our deceased customer concluded when I sent the funds to the firm, all
outstanding interactions in relation to the file are just customer
services and due process. The finance firm has no single idea of
what's the history or nature of the deposit. They are simply awaiting
instructions to release the
deposit to any party that comes forward. This is the situation. This
bank has spent great amounts of money trying to track this man's
family; they have investigated for months and have found no family.
The investigation has come to an end.
My proposal;
I am prepared to place you in a position to instruct the finance firm
to release the deposit to you as the closest surviving relation. Upon
receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the money with you in
half and no more. That is: I will simply nominate you as the next of
kin and have them release the deposit to you. We share the proceeds
50/50. I would have gone ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but
that would have drawn a straight line to me and my involvement in
claiming the deposit. But on the other hand, you as a foreigner and
also with all the necessary legal and official documentations from me
and the presiding attorney and also with the authority vested upon me
by the original depositor, you would easily pass as the beneficiary
with the rights to claim. I assure you that I could have the deposit
released to you in a few days. I will simply inform our bank of the
final closing of the file relating to the customer. I will then
officially communica
te with the finance company and instruct them to release the deposit
to you.
With these two things: all is done. The alternative would be for us to
have the firm direct the funds to another bank with you as account
holder. This way there will be no need for you to think of receiving
the money from the firm. We can fine-tune this based on our
interactions. I am aware of the consequences of this proposal. I ask
that if you find no interest in this project that you should discard
this mail. I ask that you do not be vindictive or destructive. If my
offer is of no appeal to you, delete this message and forget I ever
contacted you. Do not destroy my career because you do not approve of
my proposal. You may not know this but people like myself who have
made tidy sums out of comparable situations run the whole private
banking sector. I am not a criminal and what I do; I do not find
against good conscience, this may be hard for you to understand, but
the dynamics of my industry dictates that I make this move. Such
opportunities only come once in a lifeti
me. I cannot let this chance pass me by I hope you understand because
for once I found myself in total control and face to face with my
destiny. These chances won't pass me by. I ask that you do not destroy
my chance, if you will not work with me let me know and let me move
on with my life but do not destroy me. I am a married woman with 2
kids and this is an opportunity to provide them with new
opportunities. There is a reward for this project and it is a task
well worth undertaking. I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I
have here is from you refusing to work with me and alerting my bank. I
am the only one who knows of this situation, good fortune has blessed
you with a name that has planted you into the center of relevance in
my life. Let's share the blessing.
If you find yourself able to work with me, contact me through this
email account: [email protected]
If you give me positive
signals,I will initiate this process towards a conclusion.
Please observe this instruction religiously. Please note again, I am a
happily married with two kids. I send you this mail not without a
measure of fear as to what the consequences might be, but I know
within me that nothing ventured is nothing gained and that success
and riches never come easy or on a platter of gold. This is the one
truth I have learned from my private banking clients. Do not betray
my confidence. If we can be of one accord, we should plan a meeting,
soon.
I await your response.
Sincerely,
Wan Yonghong
[email protected]