Case Study

Problem

The president of a major multinational corporation in the Philippines received a letter demanding a large sum of money in annual revolutionary taxes. The letter claimed to be from a well-known armed communist movement and included a thinly veiled threat to the president if payment were not received. Threatening phone calls soon followed.

The president immediately contacted Pacific Strategies & Assessments (PSA) in Manila and gave a brief overview of the letter he had received.

PSA Assessment

PSA examined the letter and the envelope in which it arrived. Initial assessment suggested that it was either genuine or a professional forgery, but forensic analysis was needed to authenticate it.

Pending further analysis, PSA advised the foreign executive to intensify his personal security and secure the corporate headquarters. It briefed him on anti-terrorism practices and informed his domestic staff and colleagues of basic security prevention procedures. It also carried out a comprehensive security survey of the firm's headquarters and regional offices, as well as the executive's residence. The security audit revealed severe shortcomings in terms of guard force management and access control procedures.

Extensive forensic examination revealed that the extortion letter was not from the organization that it claimed to represent, so PSA had to look for other sources. Confidential financial information cited in the letter suggested that an insider was involved and further investigation uncovered serious labor problems.

PSA Solution

PSA conducted background checks on the firm's entire staff and identified a small group of leftist labor activists. This group was trying to intimidate senior management in an effort to win concessions in a collective bargaining agreement, avoid job losses in the consolidation of two of the firm's companies, and scare expatriate managers out of the Philippines.

Result

The firm significantly improved its level of security and a crisis management plan was subsequently implemented to avoid similar incidents in the future. Extortion calls stopped, the consolidation went ahead, and foreign managers remained in place.