Case Timeline: Zschimmer & Schwarz

Zschimmer & Schwarz: The First Fraud Attempt

A timeline of the intercepted email, courier manipulation, and blocked payment (2020)

📎 Based on the High Court judgment and news reports

In September 2020, a German chemical manufacturer was deceived into attempting to pay a commission into a Malaysian bank account. Unknown persons infiltrated emails, manipulated courier documents, and posed as a trusted business partner. The timeline below traces the first, unsuccessful fraud attempt — the one that was stopped before the funds left the German bank.

Date / Period	Event
Sept 2020	Zschimmer & Schwarz GmbH receives an email from its long‑standing South Korean partner, Real KoWorks, requesting a routine commission payment of ~€123,000 to a Korean bank account.
Shortly after	Unknown persons, who have infiltrated the email exchange, pose as Real KoWorks and tell the German company that the payment must instead go to a Malaysian bank account, citing “sudden economic inflation” in Korea.
Soon after	At the fraudsters’ request, Zschimmer & Schwarz couriers a bank‑change verification form to Real KoWorks — the company’s standard procedure when bank details change.
During transit	The couriered form is intercepted by the fraudsters, who alter its contents — changing the payee bank details to a Malaysian account — and then forward the manipulated document to Real KoWorks.
Simultaneously	Fake email addresses impersonating the German company’s representative are created and used to convince Real KoWorks that the altered form is genuine.
Shortly after	Real KoWorks, believing the form to be authentic, signs, stamps, and returns it to Germany.
Late Sept / Early Oct 2020	Relying on the signed form, the German company instructs its bank to pay ~€123,000 to the Malaysian Muamalat Bank account of “Kontiinuer Engenharia Industrial.”
Immediately after	The German bank stops the payment for further authentication. The transfer is not completed. 🔴 The first fraud attempt fails.

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