Subject: from abnamro bank
dear sir / madam ,
i would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail confidential
and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of
this mail . i am contacting you independently of our investigation and no
one is informed of this communication . i would like to intimate you with
certain facts that i believe would be of interest to you .
in 2001 , mr . ralph brink came to our bank to engage in business discussions
with our private banking division . he informed us that he had a financial
portfolio of eighteen million united states dollars , which he wished to have
us turn over ( invest ) on his behalf . i was the officer assigned to his case ,
i made numerous suggestions in line with my duties as the de - facto chief
operations officer of the private banking sector , especially given the volume
of funds he wished to put into our bank .
we met on numerous occasions prior to any investments being placed . i encouraged
him to consider various growth funds with prime ratings .
the favored route in my advise to customers is to start by assessing data on 6000
traditional stocks and bond managers and 2000 managers of alternative investments .
based on my advice , we spun the money around various opportunities and made
attractive margins for our first months of operation , the accrued profit and interest
stood at this point at over 20 million united states dollars , this margin was not
the full potential of the fund but he desired low risk guaranteed returns on investments .
in mid 2002 , he asked that the money be liquidated because he needed to make an urgent
investment requiring cash payments in the netherlands . he directed that i liquidate
the funds and had it deposited with a firm in the netherlands .
i informed him that abn / amro bank would have to make special arrangements to
have this done and in order not to circumvent due process , the bank would have
to make a 10 . 5 % deduction from the funds to cater for banking and
statutory charges .
he complained about the charges but later came around when i explained to him the
complexities of the task he was asking of us .
i contacted my affiliate in amsterdam and had the funds available .
i undertook all the processes and made sure i followed his precise instructions to
the letter and had the funds deposited at a amsterdam based security and consultancy firm .
this asset management firm is a specialised private firm that accepts deposits from high
net worth individuals and blue chip corporations that handle valuable products or
undertake transactions that need immediate access to cash . this small and highly private
organization is familiar especially to the highly placed and well - connected organizations .
in line with his instructions , the money was deposited with an asset management firm .
mr . ralph brink told me he wanted the money there in anticipation of his arrival from
england later that week . this was the last communication we had , this transpired around
25 th february 2004 .
in june later that year , we got a call from the asset management firm informing us of the
the inactivity of that particular portfolio . this was an astounding position as far as i
was concerned , given the fact that i managed the private banking sector i was the only one
who knew about the deposit at the firm , and i could not understand why mr . ralph brink had
not come forward to claim his deposit . all efforts to locate him was futile . i immediately
passed the task of locating him to the internal investigations department of abn / amro .
four days later , information started trickling in , apparently mr . ralph brink was dead .
a person who suited his description was declared dead of a heart attack in canne , south of
france . we were soon enough able to identify the body and cause of death was confirmed .
the bank immediately launched an investigation into possible surviving next of kin to alert
about the situation and also to come forward to claim his estate .
if you are familiar with private banking affairs , those who patronize our
services usually prefer anonymity , but also some levels of detachment from conventional
processes . in his bio - data form , he listed no next of kin .
in the field of private banking , opening an account with us means no one
will know of its existence , accounts are rarely held under a name ; depositors use numbers
and codes to make the accounts anonymous . this bank also gives the choice to depositors
of having their mail sent to them or held at the bank itself , ensuring that there are no
traces of the account and as i said , rarely do they nominate next of kin .
private banking clients apart from not nominating next of kin also usually in most cases leave wills in our care , in this case ; mr . ralph brink died interstate . in line with our internal processes for account holders who have passed away , we instituted our own investigations in good faith to determine who should have right to
claim the estate . this investigation has for the past months been unfruitful .
we have scanned every continent and used our private investigation affiliate companies to
get to the root of the problem .
my official capacity dictates that i am the only party to supervise the
investigation and the only party to receive the results of the investigation .
according to practice , the asset management firm will by the end of this financial year
broadcast a request for statements of claim to abn / amro , failing to receive viable claims
they will most probably revert the deposit back to abn / amro bank . this will result in the
money entering the abn / amro accounting system and the portfolio will be out of my hands
and out of the private banking division . this will not happen if i have my way . what i wish
to relate to you might sound unethical practice but i want you to understand something . it
is only an outsider to the banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking
world aberrational . the world of private banking especially is fraught with huge rewards
for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain portfolios .
there is us $ 20 . 000 , 000 . 00 deposited in amsterdam , the netherlands , i alone have the
deposit details and they will release the deposit to no one unless i instruct them to do so .
i alone know of the existence of this deposit for as far as abn / amro is concerned ,
the transaction with mr . ralph brink concluded when i deposited the funds with the asset management firm , all outstanding interactions in relation to the file are just customer services and due process .
the asset management firm has no single idea of the history or nature of the deposit . they
are simply awaiting instructions to release the deposit to any party that comes forward .
this bank has spent great amounts of money trying to track this man ' s family ; they have
investigated for months and have found no family . the investigation has come to an end .
my proposal ; i am prepared to place you in a position to instruct the asset management firm
to release the deposit to you as the closest surviving relation . upon receipt of the deposit ,
i am prepared to share the money with you in half . that is : i will simply nominate you as
the next of kin and have them release the deposit to you . we share the proceeds 50 / 50 .
i would have gone ahead to ask that the funds be released to me , but that would have drawn
a straight line to me and my involvement in claiming the deposit . i can assure you that i
could have the deposit released to you within a few days . i will simply inform the bank of
the final closing of the file relating to mr . ralph brink
i will then officially communicate with the asset management firm and instruct them to
release the deposit to you . with these two things : all is done .
if you find yourself able to work with me , contact me through the provided
email account . if you give me positive signals , i will initiate this process
towards a successful conclusion . .
i do not want any direct official link between you and me . my official lines
are not secure lines as they are periodically monitored to assess our level of customer
care in line with our total quality management policy . i strongly believe that you would
not betray my confidence in you .
please send your response to edwardlaan @ excite . it
if we can be of one accord , we should plan a meeting , soon .
i await your response .
kind regards
edward laan
abn / amro bank
private banking div .
e - mail : edwardlaan @ excite . it
check - out go . com
go get your free go e - mail account with expanded storage of 6 mb !
http : / / mail . go . com
