German firm recovers funds with help of Phl envoy

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government has helped a German furniture trading company recover nearly $33,000 that an e-mail defrauder managed to extract from the firm. 

The company, Escoba GmbH, was able to recover the funds through the joint effort of the Philippine Embassy in Berlin and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Philippine Embassy said the e-mail defrauder was able to access the e-mail account of Escoba GmbH’s Asian supplier and carried out a fake correspondence with Escoba GmbH over the delivery of an order of upholstered furniture.

It was made to appear to Escoba GmbH that the delivery of the ordered furniture would be delayed because the supplier was not able to pay a debt to its raw material supplier which was allegedly based in the Philippines. 

A request was made for a downpayment to the supplier of raw materials in the Philippines. For this purpose, a bank account in the Philippines was specified to receive the downpayment.

The Philippine Embassy said Escoba GmbH chief executive officer (CEO) Cimalettin Yilmaz found out from his Asian supplier, after making the payment in June 2013, that the downpayment request was bogus.

While Escoba GmbH considered the amount a total loss, a helpful business colleague from Hannover pursued the idea of approaching the Philippine Embassy in Berlin for assistance.

Philippine Ambassador to Germany Maria Cleofe Natividad promised the embassy’s support and reported the matter to the Philippine bank that received the amount, explaining the facts surrounding the money transfer and requesting that the transaction be reversed. 

The Philippine Embassy also referred the matter to the DFA for proper endorsement to the concerned Philippine authorities.

The Philippine bank cooperated, and before the amount could be withdrawn, the bank was able to secure the money. After confirming the incident, it sent the full amount back to Escoba GmbH, which confirmed receipt in early August.