In 2015, while the world’s attention was focused on wars and terrorism, a small Indian commodities’ trading company was quietly defrauding several banks out of more than a billion dollars. The story, which emerged in halting, incomplete headlines in the Indian business press, led to one of the most expansive private investigations in India in recent memory. And yet for those who lost funds, recovery has remained elusive.
The case looked simple. A well-known Indian business had opened a commodities trading arm which sought trade financing from a series of Indian and international banks. The banks would advance payment to sellers through an escrow account against proof of shipment, typically bills of lading. Buyers had six months to repay the banks. On its face this was reasonably standard. The company’s owners had been in the market for three generations and knew the business well; and the market knew them. What could go wrong?
Within six months the commodities arm had engaged in hundreds of trades - coal from Indonesia to Nigeria, rice from India to Ghana and countless more. It wasn’t long before the banks had advanced over $1 billion to the sellers from the escrow account. But six months passed, then seven, and the repayments never arrived, as alarm grew among the banks that something was amiss. Investigators were engaged.
这不是通常缺少金钱的案例。有200家散落在全球各地的公司只有数百家商品似乎相连。但更接近地检查，异常出现。许多人已在彼此的几天内注册或共享注册地址。大多数由专业被提名者控制。他们的名字也提供了诱人的线索。有些人以基本方向命名，而其他名字暗示着你的眼睛从俯瞰大开曼的海滩俯瞰办公室。
East West Trading Ltd in Hong Kong was incorporated on the same day as North South Trading Pte Ltd in Singapore. Golden Sands Trading was registered at the same address as Ocean Blue Water Trading.
案件在包括前金融高管的不满员工（包括前财务高管）前进并承认整个行动被贸易公司的业主策划了全部运作，以应对母公司的亏损。大多数转向的资金 - 近60％ - 已被投资于英国印度商人拥有的奄奄一息的房地产项目。他通过金属贸易业务与公司的业主联系在一起，在英国在20世纪90年代巧合，巧合，符合三个合作伙伴的首字母。其余的资金被转移到英国，阿联酋，印度和新加坡的公司。
该案件是在法院提交的众多国家。但是，由于重叠的司法管辖区和该计划的复杂性，资产的执法和检索被证明是令人沮丧的。目击者与此同时，谁在揭露退缩时，谁已经如此乐于助人，害怕他们的安全。
Three years later, recovery efforts continue. But the case offers a cautionary tale and a warning to others.
首先，时间压力永远不应该妨碍充分的勤奋。买家和卖家互联，许多属性提高了红旗（如共同的合并日期和其所有权结构）。但是，这些没有及时识别。
其次，目击者必须受到保护。复杂的欺诈将仅被纸张小径完全暴露。没有见证人，补救不太可能。
Finally, India is desperate for a dedicated asset retrieval framework. Disputes take years to resolve in local courts and there is no workable witness protection or whistle-blower scheme. Confidentiality itself can not be guaranteed.
但印度正在取得进展。建立孟买和德里国际仲裁中心和2016年破产和破产法的规定正在为康复提供新的途径。下一步可以在专用资产恢复机构下采取全面恢复机制的形式。这些问题考虑到印度不良贷款的增加，截至2018年3月，估计在1500亿美元的估计。由于该国进一步纳入全球经济，案件让人让人焕发上面，可能会成为更常见的地方。专门的资产恢复机构可能会倍增：促使创造性的欺诈者和令人安慰投资者。
Aakash Brahmachari
raedas.
