In many cases that we came across, the victims are mostly trading companies with business counterparts all across the globe. The diagram below illustrates how the scheme operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What to do next?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The victim\u2019s effort to recover the money is always a race against time. It is therefore always advisable to act as soon as possible, and ideally within 24 hours from the fund transfer, as thereafter the fraudster is very likely to have already dissipated the funds. If law enforcement authorities or banks have not decided to freeze the relevant accounts, the victim should seek assistance from lawyers to apply for a Mareva Injunction (i.e. asset-freezing order) on the civil route to prevent dissipation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If the money is successfully retained in the bank account pursuant to the injunction, civil proceedings should be commenced against the bank account holder to recover the money in equity. The fraudster is very unlikely to contest the proceedings (by this time he probably has absconded) so the victim can apply for a monetary default judgment against the fraudster unhindered. To actually recover the money, the victim then needs to apply for a garnishee order, which once granted will compel the bank to directly transfer the money from the fraudster\u2019s bank account to the victim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recent case law suggests that other than the conventional way of obtaining a monetary default judgment, the victim might also seek a declaration in default to assert a proprietary claim over the funds in the fraudster\u2019s bank account which, if succeeds, would lead to a vesting order. The bank will then be compelled to immediately transfer the money back to the victim without the need to wait for the garnishee order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If the money has already been dissipated by the time the injunction is obtained, the victim will have to take extra steps to \u201ctrace\u201d the money. A discovery order for banker\u2019s record needs to be obtained first, so that the victim can ascertain the flow of the money and track down where it was transferred to. Most of the time it would be a cross-jurisdiction transfer, which adds another obstacle to the victim\u2019s recovery. The victim will have to engage lawyers in that jurisdiction to commence new proceedings against the new, foreign recipient of the money, and also conduct further discovery and tracing to ascertain the latest whereabouts of the money. As one may see, if the money cannot be frozen in time, the matter will be very complicated with time and costs spiraling out of control, and at the end of the day, the fraudster may still be one step ahead of the victim so that the victim cannot recover the stolen money. This is exactly why the victim is advised above to act as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prevention is better than cure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is always better to take preventative measures rather than looking out for remedies. You may check out some practical preemptive measures from the Police\u2019s article \u201cTips for Smart Netizens\u201d which is available at http:\/\/www.police.gov.hk\/ppp_en\/04_crime_matters\/tcd\/tips.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n What OLN can do for you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n OLN has acted for the victims in many email scam incidents, and electronic fraud cases generally. On most occasions, OLN has successfully obtained the Mareva Injunction and recovered a substantial portion of the defrauded money (if not entirely). With extensive experience in civil litigation, we will be able to assist you in a swift and efficient manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another fitting quote by William Shakespeare in Henry VI would be appropriate to conclude this article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWise men ne\u2019er sit and wail their loss, but cheerily seek how to redress their harms.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n This article is for information purposes only. Its contents do not constitute legal advice and readers should not regard this article as a substitute for detailed advice in individual instances.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You cannot trust anyone — \u201cOne may smile, and smile, and be a villain.\u201d While not everyone has heard of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":2622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"featured_post":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dispute-resolution","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Dispute](\"https:\/\/oln-law.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2021\/09\/image13.png\")
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