Case Study: Acquisition of a luxury 5 star hotel
Client
Real estate company
Project Duration
2 weeks
Background information: Our client X (a real estate company with a portfolio of luxury hotels) was approached by a UK based consulting company which together with its Hong Kong business partner aspired to acquire a 5 star luxury hotel in Europe, which belongs to our client. A typical KYC procedure carried out by our client did not reveal any problems with such a request, but in order to avoid any financial or reputation risk our client asked the Globinsider team to double check, whether the HongKong based company really exists and whether such a deal is feasible.
Our actions: We have carried out due diligence on a UK company and its partner in Hong Kong. After a thorough and complex KYC process, including going to open source records and our network and lawyers in China, we learned that the HG-based company is a shell established for money laundering scheme. The head of the HG company has accumulated numerous loans from his partners in mainland China and redirected these sources to the HG shell. We informed our client that there is a high risk of being scammed when working with this partner.
Red flags of this case study: One of the red flags in this case study was the obscurity of the scheme used to finance the acquisition of the hotel. The HG-based company selects representatives of UK legal entities to complete the transaction and contact the client. While this may be standard procedure in real situations, as the Chinese usually prefer to delegate lawyers from Europe to deal with Europeans because they do not speak English or for other reasons, one should be careful every time such a situation arises.
If you want to check your partner in the Big China region or in the countries of the former USSR (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Russia or Belarus) please send us your inquiry at: info@globinsider.com
Pricing is always individual. You pay after the delivery of the result.
Case Study: Integrity check of a client from Uzbekistan
Client
European financial institution
Project Duration
1,5 weeks
Background information: Our client X (a financial institution based in Europe) was approached by a citizen of Uzbekistan who wanted to finance his acquisition partly with his own capital and partly with a bank loan. This individual had not previously done business in the country where the acquisition was to take place, and because he is an Uzbek citizen, KYC resources at this bank were limited. In order to avoid any money laundering scheme, the representative of the bank asked us to find all relevant information about the client and his business in Uzbekistan.
Our actions: Since Uzbekistan is still a very traditional country, there is practically no way to get any open information about the citizens of Uzbekistan or their businesses from open sources. Our team contacted a network of lawyers, businessmen and one financial institution from Uzbekistan, and we even managed to find a business partner of the audited entity. All the information that we received from our network confirmed that the citizen of Uzbekistan and his business are absolutely transparent and he has never had problems with Uzbek jurisdiction.
Practical information: We have a network of people working in various industries in Uzbekistan and we are able to find practically any relevant information on your future partner.
If you want to check your partner in the Big China region or in the countries of the former USSR (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Russia or Belarus) please send us your inquiry at: info@globinsider.com
Pricing is always individual. You pay after the delivery of the result.
More case studies to be published soon.
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