How A Rare Shipment of Japanese Candy Was Hijacked
Bokksu, a New York-based company known for its Japanese subscription boxes, faced a setback when approximately $250,000 worth of rare Kit Kat went missing.
Bokksu, a New York-based company known for its Japanese subscription boxes, faced a setback when approximately $250,000 worth of rare Kit Kat went missing. The shipment, intended to travel from Japan to the U.S. and then east to New Jersey, fell victim to a scam that exploited identity theft and deceptive shell email accounts.
What happened?
When Bokksu initially imported Kit Kats from Japan, the shipment safely reached the U.S. However, complications arose during the subsequent transportation from California to Bokksu's New Jersey warehouse.
Bokksu sought the assistance of Shane Black, the operator of Freight Rate Central, paying him approximately $13,000 for the coordination of trucking services. Black, in turn, hired a person named Tristan, who unfortunately turned out to be a scammer.
After Tristan confessed, he disclosed the locations where he had stored the Kit Kats. Armed with this information, Black attempted to deliver the candy but fell victim to another scammer, this time going by the name Manny.
At this juncture, half of the Kit Kats had gone missing, while the remaining half remained in storage. Black encountered further obstacles in his efforts to retrieve the candy. The storage facility claimed to have a contract for the Kit Kats with an individual named Harry Centa. Black informed the company that there was no Centa involved, although a person with that name exists, having no connection to the Kit Kat situation. In an email to the NYTimes, Centa, residing in Ohio and working in shipping, stated, "This is totally fraudulent and not me."
What now?
Well, the Kit Kats still seem to being held hostage. If you know where the scared Japanese chocolates might be, reach out! Cargo thefts continue to rise, as CargoNet has noted.
Courtesy: Robb Report
