Law firm out $2.1 million in African fraud (this you gotta read)

Detroit Free Press ^ | September 21, 2002 | DAVID ASHENFELTER

[Liz]

He said he was an official with the Ministry of Mining in Pretoria, South Africa.

And he offered to pay a $4.5-million fee to a 59-year-old Rochester Hills woman if she would help him transfer $18 million from South Africa to a bank account in the United States.

[rogue yam]

The law firm is located in Berkley, Michigan, not in Berkeley, California. Note the different spelling.

What I'm seeing here is collusion between the bookkeeper and the guy at the bank. No way should she have been able to clean out all of the law firm's accounts. They probably figured they would use the firm's money to earn the "commission" and then return the funds to the law firm's accounts before anyone was the wiser. Once money started disappearing they couldn't back out because they knew that eventually their embezzlement would be found out. So they kept embezzling and transfering more and more funds, hoping against hope that the Africans would finally make good on their promises and bail our two entrepreneurs out.

Based on the locations of the crime and other clues I have a budding theory on why the bank officer and the bookkeeper were able to establish such a bond of trust with one another and why they together were so willing to believe the word of unknown "Africans" but I will keep it to myself lest I be charged with "profiling."

[FreedomPoster]

Law firm's already confirmed they would sue Bank One

If the events are as told here, I don't know why they even have to threaten. The bank ought to just pony up and be done with it.

[SES1066]

The law firm is located in Berkley, Michigan, not in Berkeley, California. Note the different spelling.

Shucks should have known that it was too good to be true! I'll try to do better research in the future.

[Jimmy Valentine]

This is one of the most durable scams going. It is always being worked somewhere, and a surprising number of supposedly intelligent people fall for it.

Regards,

[mhking]

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....

If you want on or off this list, please let me know!
This has come about after much badgering by you, my friends and extended family...

[Erasmus]

Well, somebody is falling for it, or the Nigerians would stop sending the faxes and emails. I get one every two or three months, and I've heard of folks who get several a week.

I get one on average every couple of weeks.

Hmmm. I wonder if they're profiling.....

[eggman]

"We don't comment on customer relationships," said Bank One spokeswoman Mary Kay Bean. "All businesses need to have the right accounting and financial controls, and we urge our customers to be diligent about checking their balances."

Seems Bank One needs to follow their own advice. The law firm had financial controls in place but the bank ingored them.

[woofie]

I did this and made $6 million...sort of

[Rome2000]

This woman Poet sounds uniquely qualified for Government work.

She needs to move to DC and get an Assistant Secretary job with the Department of Homeland Security.

[AK2KX]

You would think that banks in the US would be on the alert and question any wire transfers to banks in Nigeria. Or would that constitute "profiling"?

[Liz]

You can't really expect a banking institution to be politically incorrect can you? (/sarcasm off)

[Liz]

She'd make a great assistant to Terry McAuliffe at the DNC. Man, what deals they can make together. MxAwful's $18 mill off of the corrupt Global X deal is chicken feed compared to the bucks he can make on Nigerian scams.

[VOA]

Law firm out $2.1 million in African fraud (this you gotta read)

Ah, this makes my day...

[Jim Noble]

>>The bank approved wire transfers to foreign accounts though she was not authorized to make such transfers?<<

" He said a manager at a Southfield branch, whom Poet befriended, approved all of the wire transfers"

Is that what they call it now? "Befriended"?

It's all about sex. Everybody lies about sex.

Can't we just move on?

[lewislynn]

Anytime you get one of these send it to the justice dept.

They're much too busy covering up Clinton crimes.

[Beeline40@aol.com]

We received a few of these via fax at work, I cannot belive this woman was so stupid. It was so obvious it was a scam. I immediate contacted the FBI and they said this happens a lot and they are working on this. I asked if anybody has fallen for this, and he said you have no idea.

[Cacique]

I think nuking Nigeria would solve the problem in a jiffy.

[blam]

"Hmmm...it sounds like the law firm might not be out $2.1 million for too long..."

Yup...that's the way I read it. Bank One has a problem.

[Liz]

Heheheheh. Kinda makes one all soft and warm inside.