Ghana to the Bahamas via Togo: anatomy of an advance fee fraud

Lily Kennett (+44 (0)20 7034 9000, lily.kennett@schillingspartners.com) and Juliet Young (+44 (0)20 7034 9000, juliet.young@schillingspartners.com) are partners at Schillings and Trevor Wiles (+44 (0)20 7831 9110, twiles@forensicrisk.com) is a partner at Forensic Risk Alliance. Research by Georgia Lacey of Schillings and Michael Milton of Forensic Risk Alliance.

In mid-January [2020], Lekoil, an African oil exploration and production company, lost an astonishing 70% of its share price almost overnight. This dramatic decline in fortunes occurred after it fell victim to a simple advance payment fraud. Lily Kennett and Juliet Young of Schillings and Trevor Wiles of Forensic Risk Alliance work through the case, identifying the red flags and how to guard against similar deceit.