March 30, 2016
The email seemed unremarkable: a routine request by Mattel Inc.’s chief executive for a new vendor payment to China.
It was well-timed, arriving on Thursday, April 30, during a tumultuous period for the Los-Angeles based maker of Barbie dolls. Barbie was bombing, particularly overseas, and the CEO, Christopher Sinclair, had officially taken over only that month. Mattel had fired his predecessor.
The finance executive who got the note was naturally eager to please her new boss. She double-checked protocol. Fund transfers required approval from two high-ranking managers. She qualified and so did the CEO, according to a person familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter. He declined to reveal the finance executive’s name. Satisfied, the executive wired over $3 million to the Bank of Wenzhou, in China. But he hadn’t made any such request.
Luck arrived for Mattel in the form of a bank holiday. Friday, May 1, was Labor Day in China. That, crucially, gave Mattel time. The company notified Chinese police, who quickly launched a criminal investigation, according to a letter from Mattel thanking Chinese authorities, which was obtained by the AP. When the Bank of Wenzhou opened the following Monday, a China-based anti-fraud executive from Mattel strode past the sculpted lions that flank the entrance to the bank’s headquarters, marched upstairs to the International Business Department and presented a letter from the FBI, according to two people familiar with the investigation who were not authorized to speak publicly. Chinese police froze the account that very morning. Two days later, on May 6, Mattel got its money back, according to the letter.