Aurubis Faces Profit Plunge Amidst Theft and Fraud Woes
The Hamburg-based copper producer and recycling mastermind, Aurubis, has reported a noticeable dip in profits following a series of theft and fraud incidents. Preliminary figures suggest that the 2022/23 fiscal year concluded with an operating pre-tax profit of 349 million euros, a staggering 34% decline from the previous year as announced on Wednesday.
The press release clarifies that this decline is largely thanks to financial repercussions stemming from criminal acts against Aurubis, which adversely impacted the profit margin in the past fiscal year. Although the profit figure lands at the upper limit of the primary forecast of 310 to 350 million euros, Aurubis has decided to postpone the publication of the full income statement until December 20, a two-week delay attributed to the increased time required to manage these criminal activities during the financial statement preparation and auditing process.
Unfortunately, Aurubis has fallen victim to a substantial fraud case this year, with estimated losses nearing 200 million euros. During routine audits of the metal inventory, anomalies were discovered, including considerable discrepancies from the projected stock volume and deviations in special samples from specific recycling deliveries.
Aurubis hypothesizes that manipulated samples with high levels of valuable metals may have been submitted but yielded significantly less valuable metals in the actual deliveries, leading to inflated invoices. It had already come to light in June that a criminal gang had supposedly pilfered intermediate items containing precious metals from the company for several years, amassing proceeds valued at approximately 20 million euros.
Criminal activities, including theft and fraud, substantially contributed to Aurubis' profit slump. The sizable fraud involving precious metals instigated over-invoicing and produced an estimated 200 million euros in losses for Aurubis.
Enrichment Data:
While the provided sources do not specifically mention any large-scale fraud involving Aurubis and valuable metals leading to a significant profit reduction, the information available in the sources encompasses the following topics:
- Voice Phishing Attacks: A deeply detailed account of a voice phishing scam targeting a cryptocurrency investor, who was swindled out of $4.7 million. The deception was orchestrated using a phishing panel operated by a cybercriminal referred to as "Perm," who exploited legitimate services such as Google Assistant and Apple support lines to plunder the victim's assets[1].
- Crypto Chameleon and Perm’s Phishing Panel: Description of Perm's phishing panel operation, part of the Star Fraud community on Telegram. This panel, leased out to several phishing groups, employs autodoxers to automate the compilation and verification of personal data before each call attempt[1].
- Mark Cuban’s Attack: An instance of a phishing scam targeting billionaire Mark Cuban, who fell for this fraud, revealing his seed phrases, resulting in the theft of $43,000 worth of cryptocurrencies. The attackers manipulated a mix of social engineering and false Apple support calls to gain access to Cuban’s digital assets[1].
- Australian Manufacturing Forum: Information pertaining to the South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance (SEMMA) and the initiation of nominations for CRC-P grants worth up to 3 million euros each for cooperative projects[2].
- Spanish Foundries: Comprehensive details on foundries situated in Spain, including financial statements and sales revenue stats for various companies[3].
The sources do not include any direct references to Aurubis or related fraud involving precious metals.
