Since the early 1990s, we have frequently been involved in investigations of
cargo misappropriation, where large parcels of goods have suddenly disappeared
from warehouses. In some cases, the company responsible for storing the goods
has sold the cargo. In other cases, the goods have been stored in such a way
that they appear to be present, while official records indicate that they are
still in storage.
Commodities such as grain, oil products and metals
are particularly vulnerable to misappropriation because they are difficult to
identify.
Unexpected market changes, economic downturns, Ponzi schemes and pyramid
schemes can also reveal misappropriation when insureds demand delivery of their
cargo only to find that a significant problem has been hidden for a much longer
period.
We have been involved in many large to very large cargo theft cases in
countries such as Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan,
Nigeria, Liberia, Zambia, South Africa, Brazil, Paraguay, Malaysia, Indonesia
and China. We have also assisted with such claims in Western European countries
including Spain, Italy and the UK.
Our on-site investigations often lead to unexpected results, revealing that the
circumstances were different from those originally thought and that several
parties may be responsible for the loss of the cargo, or that the cargo was
never actually stored. We conduct thorough on-site investigations to gain a
full understanding of the physical and documentary checks carried out before
and after the purchase of the cargo, the supervision during the storage period
and other circumstances surrounding the misappropriation. Once the facts are
clear, we recommend preventive measures to avoid similar incidents in the
future.