Niklas Fleschier

Niklas Fleschier

Niklas wanted very much to get $70 million currently held in his bank account in Antilles (in the Netherlands) to Ecuador. He needed to do this because of suspicion that the bank was spying on his assets and could be reporting him to the German police for possible tax evasion.

A straight wire transfer would have been too easy to track. He needed a way of converting, then moving it. He had a bank account set up in Ecuador already, and had a vague idea on how he could move the money, but still was a little unsure. His idea had to do with converting the money to some physically small but very high-value products that could be shipped easily around the world, and then converted back to cash at a later date.

His bank in Ecuador had offered a secure postal box along with the bank account, so he thought it was no big deal to have these assets sent to this postal box. He just had no clue what to buy, or how to buy it.

Television had been his savior. While watching a Valentines Day advertisement, he was shocked at the price of rings. Five thousand dollars for a small gold ring with a few small diamonds. Then it clicked, his mind became focused for a brief second.

Diamonds, he thought.

A big bag of diamonds would cost $70 million, possibly more, and they are very small indeed, he thought.

He had a starting point now, and did what all unsure money launders do when they need information; he used Google.com and searched for the answer.

Buy diamonds ship quality, he searched for.

Ten pages of results ”it seems diamonds are big business. A bit of browsing later he had found one that looked very promising : www.diamondexchangeonline.com. This Web site boasted the sale of very precious specialized diamond cuts, the starting price was around a half-million USD, and up to $4 million for a single rock.

Damn, he said to himself, Niklas was glad he was single and didn t have to buy these kind of stones for anyone . He decided to call the store and discuss buying a selection of their diamonds

Niklas: Hi there, my name is Niklas Fleschier I was wondering if I could talk to someone in sales?

Store: One moment please .

Store: How may I help you?

Niklas: Hi there, I have just been visiting your Web site and I would be very interested in buying a selection of your finest diamonds as an investment piece for my wife. I was wondering if you could help me.

Store: Why certainly , our diamonds are great investment pieces and each come with full documentation and certification. How much of an investment are you thinking about making?

Niklas: * choke * Seventy million USD.

Store: Well, well, that is quite some investment piece. We do have some new diamonds from Africa that may interest you. An exquisite 15 karat Marquise diamond for example, at $6.1 million USD.

Niklas: It might be best if you can send me a full catalog, e-mail, OK?

Store: Yes, e-mail is fine.

Niklas: [e-mail]

Niklas: Oh, another thing, what payment methods do you support? And are you able to send the diamonds via a special courier to South America?

Store: Well, we support standard bank drafts for most of our transactions. As for the courier, yes, that should be no problem as long as the handling fees and insurance are acceptable. Where would the stones be sent?

Niklas: Well, it would be sent to my bank in Ecuador.

Store: Oh, I am sure that would be fine, we actually deal a lot with banks in South America.

Niklas: Is that right? Well I better be going, I ll call again soon once I go through this catalog with my jeweler.

Store: OK, it s been e-mailed now, I look forward to your call again. My name is Jane if you want to speak to me directly next time.

Niklas: Thanks a lot.

Niklas hung up the phone and downloaded the catalog from his e-mail account.

What to choose, what to choose? he thought.

The list was so big; the prices started at a few hundred thousand dollars and went right up to $10 million. Niklas managed to select (at random) enough diamonds to cover the $70 million amount.

Crazy, he thought. People actually buy these kinds of diamonds. I would hate to see the ring with a $10 million diamond embedded in it.

A few hours later he called the store back.

Niklas: Hi there, can I speak to Jane please?

Store: One moment please.

Store: Hi, Jane here.

Niklas: Hi Jane, it s Niklas here, how are you?

Store: Oh, Niklas, well, very well, that was quick. So, how did you do choosing some diamonds?

Niklas: Well, I have been looking for a bit and I have come up with a selection that I would like to buy, actually.

Store: Well, that s just great. What were you looking at?

Niklas slowly read out the list of 35 diamonds.

Store: Wow, that really is some shopping list, your wife must be a very lucky lady.

Niklas: Ehh yeah, she is. I do have one slight problem, though, I need to get the diamonds posted to my bank in Ecuador ASAP, within the week if at all possible.

Store: I don t think that would be too much of a problem. To be honest, I think we have most of these diamonds in our vault currently, and we should be able to get copies of all the documentation and certification drawn up within a day or so. We ship the goods the same day we receive payment.

Niklas: That would really be great, now how do I go about paying for these?

Store: OK well, let me just write up an order for you, one moment.

Reality broke through for a second. Dex stopped and thought, he is about to send a complete stranger who he has known for no more than five minutes $70 million, what s worse , $70 million that was not his to start with. Up until then the money had not seemed real, the Web sites, the stocks, the currency, it was all just numbers and figures, like some extravagant online game. This was very real, however; there was a person on the end of this phone.

Store: OK, there, all done. Can I e-mail you the order form to the same e-mail address as before?

Niklas: Yes that should be fine.

Store: OK, well once we receive payment the shipment will be sent. If you want you can give us a call anytime and check on the progress of the order, it should be able to be sent this week, though.

Niklas: Great, that sounds amazing. I look forward to the arrival of the diamonds.

Niklas hung up the phone. Worried about of the legitimacy of this company he decided to do a little research on it. Another Google search for the company name diamond exchange online revealed some interesting information. It seemed the company was legitimate . In fact, last year they sold the world s largest diamond at almost $100 million USD, and they boasted the largest online selection of diamonds in the world.

Well, they look legitimate enough; I have been dealing with shadier people this week anyway, thought Dex.

He downloaded the order form, filled in the details, and sent it back, then carefully filled out a wire transfer to the company s bank account for the amount of $69.5 million. The money vanished from his account, leaving a measly $500,000 balance.

Niklas now had a taste for spending money, he had never spent so much before in his life, and he still had half a million dollars that he needed transferred. What else can I buy? he wondered.

Fast cars were on the top of his list of things to buy, and half a million should buy a decent enough car to drive around South America. Again he consulted Google.com.

Ferrari South America buy. Pages and pages of books, links to South American Web sites that somewhere include the word Ferrari.

So much junk, thought Niklas. After a little refining of search terms he was able to find what he was looking for. Buy Ferrari online South America . This resulted in five hits, all car dealers in South America. The one of most interest was www.luxarycars.com.co; it offered a nice selection of very exquisite and expensive cars for sale, including a very nice second-hand Ferrari 360 for $480,000, just up Niklas s alley, and in his price range. He decided to contact the company and see how they handled overseas payments and pickups.

Dex thought Knuth would probably enjoy driving around in a Ferrari, and he would need some transport to go pick up the diamonds from the bank in Ecuador, also. Dammit, I wish this was my money, snarled Dex.

www.luxarycars.com.co replied later that day. In very broken English they said that a pickup would be fine, and if Niklas is able to send the money via an international bank draft (money wire) there should be no problems, they even wished him a happy and long stay in Colombia.

Niklas was pleased; he sent an e-mail back and agreed that he wanted to buy the car and asked for account details to pay the money into. He also informed the car dealership that he would be coming by some time in the following month. The car should be ready, gassed up, and good to go, he added.

Dex was less worried about this transaction ”half a million in the grand scheme of things was nothing. There had been no losses so far involved in moving the money; in fact, he managed to make a few thousand dollars on the currencies market.

Niklas called the diamond exchange market again later that week to confirm the order had been flown out.

Niklas: Hi, can I speak to Jane please?

Store: One moment please.

Store: Jane speaking.

Niklas: Hi Jane, it is Niklas here again.

Store: Niklas, I am very pleased to hear from you. We received your money transaction earlier this morning and I have just finished packaging up your diamonds along with their certification and documents. Some very nice pieces here, sir, I hope you enjoy them.

Niklas: Yes, I am sure I will. And you will send it today to the address I listed?

Store: Yes, the secure courier service will come at around 4 p.m. and pick it up. I think for the value of this package it will be hand-delivered to the bank. But, since you re such a special customer, we are handling all the arrangements and charges for the transport. I would also like to invite you to our diamond show coming up in Sweden later this year.

Niklas: Yes, perhaps.

Store: Well, enjoy your purchase, it should be there in a few days.