I am Raymond Smith of Standard Bank Plc, United Kingdom. I am contacting you
concerning a deceased customer and an investment he placed under our banks
management three years ago, and I would respectfully request that you keep the
contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the
information you come by as a result of this mail. I am contacting you
independently of our investigation and no one is informed of this
communication. I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe
would be of interest to you
In the year 2004, the subjects matter; came to our bank to engage in business
discussions. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of Eight Million
three hundred and seventy Thousand British Pounds Sterling, which he wished to
have us turn over(invest) on his behalf.
I decided to treat his case personally; I made numerous suggestions in line
with my duties as the de-facto chief Intermediary Sales department of the
bank, 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 primeratings. The favoured route in
my advice to customers is to start by assessing data on 6000 traditional
stocks and bond managers and 2000 managers of alternative investments. Based
on my advice, we spun the money around various opportunities and made
attractive margins for our first months of operation, the accrued profit and
interest stood at this point at over One million United States Dollars, this
margin was not the full potential of the fund but he desired low risk
guaranteed returns on investments.
In November 2005, he asked that the money be liquidated because he needed to
make an urgent investment requiring cash payments in Finland . Where he said,
he is investing with a Firm that is building a housing estate outside Helsinki
for the government of Finland . He directed that I liquidate the investment
and deposit the funds with a security firm. I informed him that Standard Bank
Plc would have to make 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 boarders has become especially strict since the incidents
of 9/11. I contacted my affiliate and made the funds available to a security
firm. I undertook all the processes and made sure I followed his precise
instructions to the letter and had the funds deposited with the security firm.
The Security 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 with the
security firm. The Customer 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 2006.In June last year, we got a
call from the security firm informing us about the inactivity of that
particular portfolio.
This was an astounding position as far as I was concerned, given the fact that
I managed the private banking sector I was the only one who knew about the
deposit at the security firm, and I could not understand why the Customer had
not come forward to claim his deposit. I made futile efforts to locate the
Customer. I immediately passed the task of locating him to the internal
investigations department of Standard Bank Plc Four days later, information
started to trickle in, apparently our client was dead. A person who suited his
description was declared dead of a heart attack in canne, in Southern part of
France . The body was identified and the cause of death was confirmed. The
bank immediately launched an investigation into possible surviving next of kin
to alert them 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; the deceased died
without a testate. In line with our internal processes for account holders who
have passed away, we instituted our own investigations in good faith to
determine who should have right to claim the estate. This investigation has
for the past months been unfruitful. We have scanned every continent and used
our private investigation affiliate companies to get to the root of the
problem. It is this investigation that resulted in my being furnished with
your details as a possible relative of the deceased.
My official capacity dictates that I am the only party to supervise the
investigation and the only party to receive the results of the investigation.
What this means, after investigating the last batch of names forwarded to us
as possible relatives, we have come to the conclusion that Our dear late
fellow died with no known or identifiable family member. This leaves me as
the only person with the full picture of what the prevailing situation is in
relation to the deposit and the late beneficiary of the deposit.
According to practice, The Security Firm will by the end of this year
broadcast a request for statements of claim to Standard Bank Plc, failing to
receive viable claims they will most probably revert the deposit back to
Standard Bank Plc. This will result in the money entering the Standard Bank
Plc accounting system and the portfolio will be out of my hands and out of the
private banking division.
This will not happen if I have my way. 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 that 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 Eight Million three hundred and seventy Thousand
British Pounds Sterling deposited in a security firm,
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 Standard Bank Plc is concerned.
The transaction with our late customer concluded when I sent the funds to the
security firm, all outstanding interactions in relation to the file are just
customer services and due process. The security 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 come 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 security
Firm to release the deposit to you as the closest surviving relative. Upon
receipt of the deposit I am prepared to share the money with you. That is: I
will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them release the deposit
to you and share the proceeds with you in a percentage we will arrive at
taking into consideration our individual level commitment. I would have gone
ahead to ask that the funds be released to me, but that would have drawn a
straight line to me and my involvement in claiming the deposit. But presenting
you as a relative with the right to claim the deposit as a next of kin will
mask my involvement and participation in diverting the deposit for personal
use. You will get all the documents needed to effect this claim immediately
you notify me of your acceptance to claim this deposit for our mutual benefit.
I assure you that I could have the deposit released to you within a few days.
I will simply inform the bank of the final closing of the file relating to the
deceased. I will then officially communicate with The Security Firm 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 Security 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 Security Company. 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 and 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 ones' way once in a
lifetime. I cannot let this chance pass me by, for once I find myself in total
control of 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 family man 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 luck 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. If you
give me positive signals, I will initiate this process towards a conclusion. I
wish to inform you that should you contact me via official channels; I will
deny knowing you and about this project. I repeat, I do not want you
contacting me through my official phone lines nor do I want you contacting me
through my official email account. Contact me only through the numbers I will
provide for you and also through this email address. I do not want any direct
link between you and myself. My official lines are not secured lines as they
are periodically monitored to assess our level of customer care in line with
our Total Quality Management Policy. Please observe this instruction
religiously.
Please, again, note I am a family man; I have a wife and children. I send you
this mail not without a measure of fear as to what the consequences, 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.
Sincerly,
Raymond Smith.
00 44 703 196 7201
raymond.smith002@mail.hic8.com
