Case of 36 containers of cashew nuts out of control: Buyers are scammers

Regarding the case of 36 containers of cashew nuts out of control, Mr. Thanh added: COSCO shipping line has received a set of original documents of a container from the buyer to pick up the goods. When this person came to receive the goods, the authorities kept the goods and did not deliver them. The documents are then checked and confirmed to be genuine.

This is the first and important evidence for the legal authorities of Vietnam and Italy to quickly launch the investigation process of a large-value fraud case involving a group of foreigners with Vietnamese enterprises.

The Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) also said that the signs of fraud by foreign businesses are increasingly revealing, the tricks in banking transactions between buyers and sellers are very sophisticated. The original sets of documents were returned according to your bank's response, but the buyer somehow managed to get them through a random lead.

Currently, the Association is still working with stakeholders to support businesses. The Trade Office and the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy will work with shipping lines to regain ownership of the containers for Vietnamese businesses.

At the same time, the Trade Office will connect with overseas Vietnamese in Italy who have warehouses and workshops to store at low cost; assist in finding reputable distributors in Europe to resell the consignment as soon as they take control.

Currently, the containers are blocked by the Italian police agency, not allowing anyone to go to the port to pick up the goods, so that Vietnamese businesses can consolidate evidence to regain ownership of them. But to do this, it is imperative that the business has original documents or an urgent judgment of the court or related agencies on the decision to return the ownership to the seller.

To quickly regain control of the shipment, businesses need to ask a lawyer to find the most reasonable legal solution and present relevant evidence.

Thus, since the enterprise reported the incident about the container shipment of cashew nuts to Italy showing signs of fraud (March 5), the Vietnam Trade Office in Italy immediately arrived at the Genoa seaport (March 5). northern Italy) to handle the case. At the same time, the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy sent a Note to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economic Cooperation, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, seaport agencies, customs, economic police, and regional chambers of commerce. , DHL, banks... to report this incident and coordinate support.

On March 8, the Trade Office - Embassy of Vietnam in Italy received a dispatch from the Vietnam Cashew Association about the fact that nearly 10 Vietnamese export companies have exported 100 containers to the Italian group of fraudulent companies. worth trillions of dollars. Immediately, the Trade Office implemented and instructed enterprises to immediately retain the original unsent dossiers; which has already been sent to DHL, it must be returned immediately; Which set has been received by the bad group, must report the recipient's name, time and place of receipt in order to find a way to trace it.

"Up to now, there are only about 30 containers left out of control with a set of documents, worth about 200,000 USD each, totaling about 6 million USD, equivalent to 130 billion VND. This has reduced the risk of great damage from nearly trillion dong to 130 billion dong," said Nguyen Duc Thanh.

However, the deal said that there are still many risks related to this shipment of 36 containers, which is to claim the original documents or to have a judgment of the Italian court authorities to be able to return the ownership to the Vietnamese exporter. South, sold to other buyers.

Be careful in customer verification

From this out-of-control container case, the Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Italy said that Vietnamese businesses need to be more careful with the terms of the contract, especially the payment terms and need to verify the partner. to learn more about them. After that, you should contact the Trade Office and Vietnamese embassies in other countries for assistance with import-export related issues before signing the contract.

In the past, there were many export contracts signed, but the address of the business buying in Italy was fake, when it arrived in reality there was no office or very small company. In case businesses do not have import-export staff who are good at foreign languages and have foreign trade expertise, they should hire employees under contracts.

Normally, cashew exporters make payment documents by the method of collecting money with documents (Documents against Payment - D/P). This is the form in which the importer can only get the set of documents when enough money has been transferred to the bank. But the risk here is that the seller and businesses, through the bank, can control the right to dispose of the goods, but have not really controlled the payment of the buyer. In addition, the bank is not obligated to verify the authenticity of the documents.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) shared: In international trade, there are many different payment methods. For agricultural products, the current popular method, especially in transactions with European partners, is to apply the D/P method (deliver documents and receive money). This method involves the buyer's bank and the seller's bank, who are intermediaries to help control the documents before transferring them to the seller.

Mr. Tran Thanh Hai recommends that, in order to minimize risks in international transactions, the first lesson is that businesses must pay attention to customer verification and authentication, even in cases where the customer has already signed a contract. contracts and transactions. Verification has many channels, such as through trading agencies, consulting units, etc., depending on the characteristics of each market.

In addition, enterprises should take the initiative in drafting contracts. At that time, you will understand clearly the regulations, responsibilities and obligations of each party in the contract as well as the terms related to the compensation policy. If there is a problem with a legal dispute, you will also be familiar with the handling process.

On the other hand, businesses should not send the number of parcels delivered on documents to the buyer if payment has not been received, and always pay attention to using the payment method with the bank acting as a payment intermediary and controlling the payment. document processing.

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