AkzoNobel starts $66m fraud investigation
The fraud was targeted at one of the firm’s subsidiaries in Chicago, US.
Getting the money back
Diana Abrahams, senior spokesperson, AkzoNobel, told FoodProductionDaily it discovered the fraudulent claim started six weeks ago.
“We can’t give specific details because we are in the middle of an investigation,” she said.
“We discovered the fraud started six weeks’ ago so it is very recent. As soon as we discovered it, we addressed the situation immediately and put a stop to it.
“We are putting every effort into getting the money back right now and trying to find out exactly what happened.”
Attempts of fraud
Abrahams added the investigation is ‘nothing new’ as most international companies have to deal with attempts of fraud.
She said AkzoNobel, which has its HQ in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, decided to make the claim public because it did not want any misunderstanding owing to the fact that it came from an external party.
An independent legal counsel assisted by an independent audit firm has been assigned to investigate the matter and the company may be able to reduce the ultimate financial impact.
At this moment, AkzoNobel believes this is an isolated incident that is not linked in any way to the operational activities of the company and its businesses.
AkzoNobel is a paints and coatings company with brands including Dulux, Sikkens, International and Eka.
