The past years we have received numerous application packages relating to accounts in Citibank, Singapore, specifically The Esplanade Branch. You probably have as well. Cash funds. $1 Billion USD or multiples thereof. Five Billion. Ten Billion. (Never say, for $6,473,821,359.00) And the account holders are typically Chinese or Taiwanese nationals.
Welcome to the "inheritance bank" - and to the byzantine world of the Mei Hua Society! You see, these are heritage funds. Pure and simple. And - well, I hate to put sand in anyone's gas tank - but these mega-size cash accounts AIN'T tradeable. Not now. Probably not ever.
To the crux of the matter:
The Mei Hua Society number over 4,000 members. With six divisions throughout Asia. The matriarch is 96 year old Mrs. Chen who, along with her granddaughter, lives in the Central Part of Taiwan. In the mountains above Taichung. In 1996, Grandma Chen gave out "inheritances" of $10 Billion USD each to all of her family members. Some 300 or so bequests. A cool $3 Trillion USD or thereabouts! BIG FAMILY! Now, for some strange reason, though, the heritage accounts were opened in Citibank, Esplanade Branch, rather than Citibank's Singapore head office where the Society maintains its master account. Stranger still, none of the "beneficiaries" were invited into the bank to sign account-opening documents. Go figure!
Well, fast forward - and here's the rub: The Mei Hua funds on deposit in the master account are restricted funds; they can only be drawn down against receipt of a bank instrument. Use of these funds in a trade program, therefore, is strictly "VERBOTEN". And, of course, what applies to the master account applies equally to the 300 + sub-accounts. So, you can forget the whole lot of them!
But the story doesn't end there. You see, the beneficiaries - none of whom are signed on the accounts - found themselves, from the outset, unable to transact their funds. Not one red cent. Needless to say, this posed a huge problem for the family members, many of whom were on nodding terms with poverty. Necessity being the mother of invention, though, a number of beneficiaries happened upon the idea of renting out their Proofs of Funds. Thus was born a thriving industry in leased Citibank, Singapore bank document! A nice little money-spinner! Of course, it didn't take long for the Shenzhen "copy shops" run by the notorious Tong - the Chinese Mafia - their motto is "Foil Justice. Do Evil" - to muscle in on the action. IT'S A RIGHT HOLY MESS! A bad beginning in search of a worse ending! So take my advice, dear readers, and steer clear of Mei Hua funds altogether.
Truth is, these heritage funds ain't worth a bucket of warm spit!
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