by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: August 2012

Primary Name Associated: Chen Shui

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Six lawyers in three provinces received an email from the purported Chen Shui of Anhui Gujing Group Limitedwith regards to a commercial debt litigation scam. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud Fact Sheet.

Here is the initial email:

From: Anhui Gujing Group Lmited [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2012 1:54 PM
To: lawyer name
Subject: Legal Counsel…

Hi ,

I am Chen Shui and i am the Accounts Officer at Anhui Gujing Group Limited .The management of Anhui Gujing Group Limited requires your legal counsel in helping us obtain our money from our customers in your region who owe us money and breached our purchase agreement.

Looking forward to reading from you .

Chen Shui
Accounting Officer II ,
Anhui Gujing Group Lmited China ,
Gujing Town ,Bozhou, 236820
China .
EMAIL: [email protected] , [email protected]
WEB: http://www.gujing-group.co.cc

A lawyer who replied got the following response and fake documentation:

Thank you for the email. Sorry about the delay in responding . I have been away on my first vacation in more than 3 years. I would be happy to work with you .But first i would like to introduce our company to you.

Anhui Gujing Group Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in distillery, hotel and tourism, real estate, pharmacy, high-tech, and finance businesses. The company was founded in 1992 and is based in Bozhou, China. The company was set up in 1959 and is the core enterprise of Anhui Gujing Group Company Limited. It occupies 700,000 square metres and employs more than 6,000 workers and staff members. Our main product is “Gujing Brand” Liquor , spirit and wines series. Annual production is averaging more than 60,000 tons of undiluted liquor, with an annual output value of one billion RMB and an annual profit of more than 500 million RMB. Since the distillery first became one of the 500 largest national industrial enterprises in 1989, it has been steadily holding 3rd place in its field (in size). It was officially commended as “a firm mainstay of the National Economy”.

We currently have 3 customers who owe us a total of $469,309.81 CAD ( Four hundred and Sixty Eighty thousand Three hundred and Nine Dollars & Eighty One Cents) . Concerning the customers who owe us, We would want to begin processing that of Robert Menard . After processing this we would send the list of other companies.

Goods ( wines ) were bought by Robert Menard and he sent us 30% down payment. The invoice for the transaction was created on 19th October 2010 for the supply of the wines ( file attached in this email ) . The total order was $307,465.78 CAD . We received 30 % of the deposit on 27th October 2010 . Then we commenced production and supplied the goods to the customers shipping address in Canada ( shipping document attached in this email ) .

They were supposed to pay the balance $215,226.05 CAD after receiving the goods. But they have simply refused to pay up till now. Please we would want them pay the balance plus a late fee of $8,012 CAD .

Please find the contact information we had at the time of purchase . We would like you to contact the customer involved:

Name : Robert Menard
Address :201 Portage Avenue,
18th Floor,
Winnipeg,Manitoba, R3B 3K6
Telephone : (647)872-1932
Email: [email protected]
Occupation : Independent Supplier

We need you to contact these customers on our behalf and issue them a last warning to pay up or you would take the case to court.

Please let us know if we would pay you a fixed amount for your fees or you would like to take a percentage of the amount being owed us (that is if the customers pay before we charge the case to court). But if the customers refuse to pay and we charge them to court please let us know your fees too.

Looking forward to reading from you .

Chen Shui
Accounting Officer II ,
Anhui Gujing Group Lmited China ,
Gujing Town ,Bozhou, 236820
China .
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEB: http://www.gujing-group.co.cc

Shui billoflanding
Shui invoice

How to handle a real or suspected fraud

If you have been targeted by any of these frauds, please forward any of the emails and supporting documents that you have received to [email protected].

If you suspect you are acting on a matter that might be a fraud, call LAWPRO at 1-800-410-1013 (416-598-5899). We will talk you through the common fraud scenarios we are seeing and help you spot red flags that may indicate you are being duped. This will help you ask appropriate questions of your client to determine if the matter is legitimate or not. If the matter you are acting on turns out to be a fraud and there is a potential claim, we will work with you to prevent the fraud and minimize potential claims costs.

If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO as there may be a claim against you.

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Fraud Fact Sheet More fraud prevention information and resources are available on the practicePRO Fraud page, including the Fraud Fact Sheet, a handy reference for lawyers and law firm staff that describes the common frauds and the red flags that can help identify them.