The chemicals and manufacturing company Orion SA, which is incorporated in Luxembourg, has reported a significant financial loss of $60m, resulting from a wire fraud scheme. On 12 August 2024, Orion submitted a report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) detailing the incident.

The filing states that a non-executive employee was the target of a criminal scheme that resulted in several fraudulently induced outbound wire transfers to accounts controlled by unknown third parties. As a result, Orion expects to record a one-time pre-tax charge of approximately $60m, corresponding to the unrecovered amount. Orion “has cooperated, and will continue to cooperate, with law enforcement as appropriate, and intends to pursue recovery of these funds through all legally available means, including potentially available insurance coverage,” said the filing.

Delano has been unable to confirm whether the fraud occurred at Orion’s Luxembourg office in Senningerberg, Niederanven, or if it was linked to the company’s main executive office in Spring, Texas, US.

Orion has stated that its investigation to date has found no evidence of further fraudulent activity or unauthorised access to its data and systems. The company is continuing to assess the impact on its internal controls but said that its daily business operations remain unaffected.

Orion is mainly known for producing “carbon black,” which is used in products such as polymers, batteries, printing ink and coatings. It operates 14 production sites globally. For the 2023 fiscal year, the company reported revenues of $1.894bn and net income of $103.5m.

A representative of Orion told Delano “We have followed the necessary procedures in the jurisdictions concerned and cannot comment further on the ongoing investigation.”

Updated on 14 August 15:51 with comment from Orion.