MR LOUIS BETHANY
Lloyds TSB Pacific Limited
London Branch
UNITED KINGDOM
Dear Friend,
Thank you for giving me your time. Please be patient and read my
email to you and may God bless you as you read my email to you.
I am a staff of Lloyds TSB Group attached in Private Banking Services.
I am contacting you concerning a customer and,an investment
placed under our banks management 3 years ago,I contacted you
independently of our investigation and no one is informed of this
communication and I would like to intimate you with certain facts
that I believe would be of interest to you.
In 2000, the subject matter; ref: bb/tsb/bank/73 came to our bank to
engage in business discussions with our Private Banking Services
Department. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of 8.5
million USD (EIGHT MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND USD),which he
wished to have us turn over on his behalf. I was the officer assigned
to his case; I made numerous suggestions in line with my duties as the
de-facto chief operations officer of the Private Banking Services
Department,especially given the volume of funds he wished to put into
our bank. We met on numerous occasions prior to any investments being
placed.I encouraged him to consider various growth funds with prime ratings.
The favored route in my advice to customers is to start by assessing
data on 600 traditional stocks and bond managers and alternative
investments. Based on my advice, we spun the money around various
opportunities and made attractive margins for our first months of
operation,the accrued profit and interest stood at this point at over
10 million USD, this margin was not the full potential of the fund but he
desired low risk guaranteed returns on investments.
In mid 2001, he asked that the money be liquidated because he
needed to make an urgent investment requiring cash payments in Europe.
He directed that I liquidate the funds and had it deposited with a firm
in Europe. I informed him that our bank would have to make special
arrangements to have this done and in order not to circumvent
due process,the bank would have to make a 9.5 % deduction from
the funds to cater for banking and statutory charges. He complained
about the charges but later came around when I explained to him the
complexities of the task he was asking of us. Cash movement across
borders has become especially strict since the incidents of 9/11.
I contacted my affiliate in Europe and had the funds available in
main land Europe. I undertook all the processes and made sure I
followed his precise instructions to the letter and had the funds
deposited in a security consultancy firm, the firm is a specialist
private firm that accepts deposits from high net worth individuals
and blue chip corporations that handle valuable products or undertake
transactions that need immediate access to cash. This small and
highly private organization is familiar especially to the highly
placed and well-connected organizations.
In line with instructions, the money was deposited. He told me he
wanted the money there in anticipation of his arrival from Norway
later that week. This was the last communication we had, this
transpired around 25th February 2002. In June last year, we got a
call from the security firm informing us of the inactivity of that
particular portfolio. This was an astounding position as far as I
was concerned, given the fact that I managed the private banking
sector I was the only one who knew about the deposit, and I could
not understand why he had not come forward to claim his deposit.
I made futile efforts to locate him I immediately passed the task
of locating him to the internal investigations department of our bank.
Four days later, information started to trickle in, that he was
apparently dead. A person who suited his description was declared
dead of a heart attack in Cannes, South of France. We were soon
enough able to identify the body and cause of death was confirmed.
The bank immediately launched an investigation into possible surviving
next of kin to alert about the situation and also to come forward to
claim his estate. If you are familiar with private banking affairs,
those who patronize our services usually prefer anonymity, but also
some levels of detachment from conventional processes.
In his bio-data form, he listed no next of kin. In the field of
private banking, opening an account with us means no one will know of
its existence, accounts are rarely held under a name, depositors use
numbers and codes to make the accounts anonymous. This bank also
gives the choice to depositors of having their mail sent to them or
held at the bank itself, ensuring that there are no traces of the
account and as I said, rarely do they nominate next of kin. Private
banking clients apart from not nominating next of kin also usually in
most cases leave wills in our care, in this case; he died intestate.
What I wish to relate to you will smack of unethical practice but I
want you to understand something. It is only an outsider to the
banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking world
aberrational.
The world of private banking especially is fraught with huge rewards
for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain
portfolios. You should have begun by now to put together the general
direction of what I propose. There is $8.500, 000.00USD deposited, I
alone have the deposit details and they will release the deposit to
no one unless I instruct them to do so. I alone know of the existence
of this deposit for as far as the finance firm, the transaction with
our deceased customer concluded when I sent the funds to the firm,
all outstanding interactions in relation to the file are just
customer services and due process.
The finance firm has no single idea of what's the history or nature
of the deposit. They are simply awaiting instructions to release the
deposit to any party that comes forward. This is the situation. This
bank has spent great amounts of money trying to track this man's
family, they have investigated for months and have found no family.
The investigation has come to an end. My proposal. Being a foreigner
and a friend and a business partner to be I am prepared to place
you in a position to instruct the finance firm to release the deposit
to you as the closest surviving relation. Upon receipt of the
deposit, I am prepared to share the money with you in half and no
more. That is; I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have
them release the deposit to you. We share the proceeds 50/50.I would
have gone ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but that would
have drawn a straight line to me and my involvement in claiming the
deposit. But on the other hand, you with a similar name as the
original depositor would easily pass as the beneficiary with the
rights to claim. I assure you that I could have the deposit released
to you in a few days. I will simply inform our bank of the final
closing of the file relating to the customer. I will then officially
communicate with the finance company and instruct them to release
the deposit to you. With these two things, all is done.
The alternative would be for us to have the firm direct the funds to
another bank with you as account holder. This way there will be no
need for you to think of receiving the money from the firm. We can
fine-tune this based on our interactions. I am aware of the
consequences of this proposal. I ask that if you find no interest in
this project that you should discard this mail. I ask that you do not
be vindictive or destructive. If my offer is of no appeal to you,
delete this message and forget I ever contacted you.
Do not destroy my career because you do not approve of my
proposal. You may not know this but people like myself who have
made tidy sums out of comparable situations run the whole private
banking sector. I am not a criminal and what I do, I do not find
against good conscience, this may be hard for you to understand,
but the dynamics of my industry dictates that I make this move. Such
opportunities only come ones, way once in a lifetime. I cannot let this
chance pass me by I hope you understand because for once I found
myself in total control and face to face with my destiny. These chances
won't pass me by. I ask that you do not destroy my chance, if you will
not work with me let me know and let me move on with my life but do
not destroy me. I am a family man and this is an opportunity to provide
them with new opportunities. There is a reward for this project and it is
a task well worth undertaking. I have evaluated the risks and the only
risk I have here is from you refusing to work with me and alerting my bank.
I am the only one who knows of this situation, good fortune has blessed
you with a name that has planted you into the center of relevance in my
life. Let's share the blessing.
If you give me positive signals, I will initiate this process towards
a conclusion. I wish to inform you that should you contact me via
official channels; I will deny knowing you and about this project. I
repeat, I do not want you contacting me through my official phone
lines nor do I want you contacting me through my official email
account. Contact me only through this email address. I do not want
any direct link between you and me. My official lines are not secure
lines as they are periodically monitored to assess our level of
customer care in line with our Total Quality Management Policy.
Please observe this instruction religiously.
Please, again, note I am a family man; Im happily married with two kids.
I send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to what the
consequences might be, but I know within me that nothing ventured is
nothing gained and that success and riches never come easy or on a
platter of gold. This is the one truth I have learned from my
private banking clients. Do not betray my confidence.If we can be of
one accord, we should plan a meeting soon.
Your earliest response to this letter will be appreciated.
May God bless you as i await your response.
Warmest Regards
Louis Bethany
NB: Reply me back on this email: loubeth@uk2.net
