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The IMB aware of the escalating level of this criminal activity, wanted to provide a free service to the seafarer and established the 24 hour IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A newsletter about fraud and global asset recovery from the office of International Chamber of Commerce's FraudNet. To read about key asset recovery cases and global compliance with anti-fraud and money-laundering laws, please click in the link above for the Newsletter PDF.
CCS offers a flexible membership arrangement based on the selection of predetermined membership packages. A prospective member can elect to join one or more Bureaux according to their requirements.
Losses due to official misconduct account for a great many maritime trade incidents. Each incident can be complex and wide-ranging in nature. It is therefore unlikely that any one company will have the knowledge and resources to be able to investigate it thoroughly.
Counterfeiting and piracy are a drain on our businesses and on the global economy. It has resulted in the widespread loss of lawful employment and a massive reduction of tax revenues.
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A large amount of the goods moving in international trade are transported on chartered ships under charterparty arrangements. Clearly, it is vitally important to know something about these companies and individuals before you entrust them with your expensive vessel or cargo. You need to be confident they can perform as agreed.
Evidence confirms there is an increasing number of charterers and owners abandon their responsibilities. This leaves the other parties to the agreement faced with the high costs and difficulties that arise when trying to resolve the situation and complete the voyage.
Our Chartering Experience service can provide you with the timely information you need in order to make an informed decision and help to reduce the risk of dealing with a company that has a poor record, is a habitual defaulter or already has debts.
The service performs an important function, as once a chartering failure has happened the options facing those affected are few and invariably expensive.
We will conduct pre-fixture checks on your behalf and the service is free to IMB members. We will research our database, publicly available information and our vast network of sources to discover a company’s origins and trading record. We will obtain details on their experience in particular trades or with specific commodities, and we will try to ascertain what others think of their ability and whether they have any debts or other encumbrances that may inhibit their performance.
All the information we obtain is reported to you. It is also entered into our database to help other members that may encounter the same or similar parties in the future. As part of this programme we also encourage members to report their experiences and any difficulties encountered during charterparty arrangements.
The service is proving invaluable to our members and has prevented substantial losses on many occasions.
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Fake or false trade and transport documents feature in the majority of modern maritime frauds and are the greatest menace facing the international trading community.
Financial institutions, traders, insurance companies, shipping agents and other intermediaries all rely on transport documents such as Bills of Lading, Seaway Bills, Airway Bills, CMR and FCR when making decisions. A document that appears genuine can induce a bank to pay for goods or finance a trade. It can prompt an insurance company to grant cover on a ship or shipment, or indemnify a fraudulent claimant. It may lead a shipping agent to release a cargo to someone that is not entitled to it.
It is important to remember that any document can be forged. In the maritime industry, fake documents mostly copy the style of a legitimate trader and it can be difficult for a non-experienced eye to spot the difference.
With many years experience and a sound knowledge of what to look for, our Information Department has a large number of resources at its disposal that can swiftly confirm the authenticity of transport documents. We make a number of independent checks with the parties named on documents and others, and these quickly indicate whether there is a cause for concern. We will then flag this up to our member and make further enquiries to determine exactly what is wrong and, more importantly, who is responsible.
Our tried and trusted system has proved invaluable on many occasions and is one of the best ways to verify the performance of the underlying transaction.
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The IMB confidential database contains the details on tens of thousands of active (and non-functioning) ship owning, management and chartering companies that have come to our attention since 1981.
It also provides current information on vessels, including the latest Port State Control, Casualty and P&I details, as monitoring the recent activities of companies has proved to be a useful indication of determining their future performance.
Primarily designed as a pre-fixture due diligence tool, our database search service provides an invaluable resource for members wanting to obtain information enabling them to check out parties before committing to a trade.
It can also assist investigations into suspicious approaches from companies or individuals that may be fraudulent. In cases whereby a non-performing entity merely continues under a different name, or parties have a history of collusion, the database can often make the link and provide evidence to warn third parties.
Enhanced by the latest analytical software, the database will additionally provide information based on the nature of the crime being examined. It is regularly used by shipping companies, charterers, cargo owners and especially by the trade finance departments of international banks.
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Exclusive to IMB members, the fortnightly Confidential Bulletin lists frauds, commercial failures and non-payment of debts. It names and shames those responsible, listing their names, addresses, aliases and any other information that is known or relevant.
Sent to members as a PDF via email, the Bulletin is presented in an easy to absorb short report format. Each issue also contains an editorial addressing a particular concern or new criminal trend.
Accompanying articles explain the activities of fraudsters, referring to and showing where applicable, examples of the documentation they use and the angle they approach victims. When considered necessary, the articles also include warnings and advice on what to do and what to look out for.
The delivery format of the Bulletin allows members to index, store and cross-reference cases for their own use. It also enables organisations to use the information as a means of warning others that may be targeted within the business by a particular approach and need to know what to look out for.
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© Commercial Crime Services, a division of the ICC Company limited by guarantee registered in England No 05716642 Registered office Cinnabar Wharf, 26 Wapping High Street LONDON E1W 1NG Tel: +44 (0)20 7423 6960 E-mail us your comments and remarks