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DP Survey Group
LET US HELP YOU FIND YOUR CARGO!
Let us help you find your cargo!
THE FACTS
Hijacking of a truck carrying container of Hair Products with a value of 1,163,860.00 USD. The truck was hijacked in Johannesburg, South Africa, while waiting for the consignee to arrive and accept the delivery.
THE SURVEY / INVESTIGATION
During the investigation, we established that the clearing agent appointed transporting company ‘A’ which then sub-contractor to load to another company to deliver the container in JHB, RSA. The transporter advised our surveyor that he was put under pressure to deliver the container in JHB by 7:00 HRS LT on a Monday.
HIJACKER LEAVING THE TRUCK
We requested claim supporting documents such as vehicle and trailer tracking reports, consignee’s company registration documents to see how long the company has been operating and their annual return submissions.
Our surveyor visited the site where the truck combination was hijacked and where it was recovered, which was few kilometres away from the crime scene. We were able to get CCTV camera footages from the Truck stop where the driver spent the night and another footage from a building next to where the truck head was abandonned.
HIJACKER WITH FACE AND BODY WELL COVERED
The case raised suspicions when we found out that the storage company where the cargo was supposed to have been offloaded operated from 08:00 to 17:00 Mon to Fri and that at the time of delivery there was no one at the facility.
Further investigation revealed that the contact person who claimed to be the consignee was not a director of the company, which contradicted the information, provided to us. Initially, the storage unit where the cargo was supposed to be stored, was half full meaning that the cargo from a full 40’ container was not going to fit inside the unit.
INSIDE STORAGE UNIT
We interviewed the person who had the keys to the storage since the director had no keys to the unit and they told our surveyor that they had no idea/knowledge of new cargo coming and they were not told to open the storage on Monday morning.
From there it was evident that the truck was set up for hijacking and the consignee had no intention of receiving the cargo in good order hence they forced the truck to arrive early since the area was quiet around that time and there were no witnesses or cameras on the street to capture the crime.
OUTCOME
Following lengthy intense follow ups and investigation, the shipper advised us that they had found the goods. We asked the consignee about the whereabouts of the cargo that was suddenly found and he advised us that he had no idea that the cargo was found and the transporter also had no idea that the cargo was found since his trailer was still missing.
It was clear that this case was fraudulous against the insurers committed by both consignee and shipper. Our investigations permitted to push the parties to their limits. The insured withdrew his claim and the insurers saved 1,163,860.00 USD worth of claim.