August 13, 2024 at 07:35AM
Luxembourg’s Orion SA may face a $60 million loss due to a criminal wire fraud scheme involving fraudulent outbound wire transfers. The company suspects a business email compromise (BEC) scam. Despite the potential loss, Orion remains confident after recently boosting its 2024 sales and profit estimates. The company is working with law enforcement to recover the funds.
From the meeting notes, the key takeaways are as follows:
1. Orion SA, a Luxembourg-based chemicals and manufacturing company, anticipates losing approximately $60 million due to a criminal wire fraud scheme targeting one of its employees. This incident may have been a business email compromise (BEC) scheme, although the term was not explicitly used in the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
2. The company expects to record a one-time pre-tax charge of approximately $60 million for the unrecovered fraudulent wire transfers if no further recoveries of transferred funds occur.
3. The Form 8-K filing explicitly stated that there was no unauthorized access to the company’s data or systems, and there was no break-in into its systems.
4. Orion SA has informed law enforcement about the incident and intends to exhaust all available options, including potential insurance coverage, to recover the lost funds.
5. Despite the potential loss, the company recently upgraded its 2024 outlook with increased estimates for net sales and operating profit, reflecting a positive outlook for the company’s financial performance.
6. The ongoing investigation is a top priority for Orion SA, and the company has declined to provide further details beyond the information included in its 8-K filing with the SEC.
These clear takeaways provide a comprehensive summary of the meeting notes, outlining the key points and implications of the incident for Orion SA.