Malaysian Scrap Dealer Stung by Scam

A Malaysian scrap metal dealer, who paid RM3 million (US$877,000) for a consignment of scrap copper from the Philippines, says it ended up with black soil, according to the New Strait Times.

The dealer, Datuk P. Krisnamurthi, and his team had gone to Manila, Phillippines, and purchased 150 metric tons of scrap copper, the article says.

His workers then supervised the loading of the metal into eight 20-foot containers before sealing and sending them to the Manila port.

The containers arrived on Friday in late January and two were sent to the scrap yard in Sungai Besi, Malaysia.

When the scrap dealer opened them on that Sunday, he was shocked to find they contained black soil.

He then checked the other six containers at a haulage yard in Telok Gong and found that they all contained black soil wrapped in jumbo bags, the article says .

In an interview with the New Strait Times, Krisnamurthi says that he has been in the scrap business for 26 years and has bought in thousands of containers, but this was the first time he had been cheated like this.

He says the seals on the containers were intact and the culprits had removed the screws on the container doors to open them without damaging the seals.

"They may have diverted the containers before they were loaded to the ship," he says.

It was also the first time Krishnamurthi was doing business with the Philippine company, according to the article.

"We have been dealing with companies in the Philippines for many years without problems. Just last month, I brought in 15 containers and everything was smooth," the dealer says.