Stories of our success

The debtor owed $3.26m to our client following default on an invoice financing deal. The parties signed a settlement agreement and the debtor then made a few partial instalment payments before defaulting for a second time.

In a jurisdiction where collection is notoriously difficult, particularly against wealthy and connected local companies, the attorney we selected filed a lien against the debtor’s assets off the back of the settlement agreement and commenced enforcement.

In the midst of our recovery efforts, a foreign conglomerate attempted to acquire the debtor, but was blocked from doing so by our client’s lien. Before allowing the acquisition to push through, we negotiated full payment of the remaining debt to our client including interest.

Our client was owed over $1m by debtor, a UAE-based garment wholesaler.

We assisted the creditor in securing a payment order against the debtor and insisted as part of subsequent negotiations that debtor’s principal personally execute checks which, if bounced, may be used to bring an individual civil action against him in Dubai.

Debtor initially paid off 15% of the debt, then defaulted. A discrete visit to the debtor’s corporate office identified boxes of inventory, which in turn justified a successful inventory seizure application. During the subsequent search, the court bailiff found records for heretofore unknown bank accounts in the debtor’s name, including statements showing that a large local bank had failed to abide by a court-issued attachment order. A parallel inquiry also identified real property exclusively in the principal’s name.

Accordingly, as a result of our actions, the client has: (i) 15% of the debt repaid; (ii) an action to recover the now-frozen balances of the new accounts; (iii) an action against a large bank for most of the remainder of the debt; (iv) the right to liquidate the inventory; and (v) the opportunity to prepare a foreclosure action against the debtor’s principal’s property.

Our lending client was the victim of a “round-tripping” fraud whereby multiple UAE entities with shared ownership forged trade documents in order to avail themselves of the bank’s credit facilities. In order to proceed against the perpetrators, our client needed concrete proof of the existence of fraud.

We identified a former employee of one of the freight forwarding companies involved in the fraud who had been wronged by his employer. He, in turn provided us with access to his laptop, which contained – amongst other information –  emails from the defendants containing a “template” bill of lading deriving from a legitimate transaction, as well as instructions on creating new fraudulent bills of lading with the defendant and related parties as shipper and consignee.

Our factoring client held a $3.5m debt against a large Singapore commodities trader. Through conversations within the industry, we were aware that the debtor was recalcitrant and drew out negotiations while often refusing to pay.

Our strategy was to be aggressive from the outset, threatening to place the debtor in insolvency unless they agreed to not only a sensible repayment plan but also a parent guarantee. The debtor ultimately conceded on all points and commenced regular payment.

When the debtor subsequently failed to pay a few instalments and refused to engage with us, we ordered the client’s attorneys to immediately file statutory demands in Hong Kong and Singapore against the debtor and its parent. The parties immediately reengaged and executed a supplemental agreement providing additional concessions to the creditor.

To-date over 90% of the initial debt has been recovered.