The documents behind the Walmart brand shorts found in Tazreen factory

Contract between Simco Dresses and Success Apparel

This is how it all began. The initial contract from the New York-based Success Apparel - a Walmart supplier - with the Dhaka-based Simco Dresses to produce 336,634 pairs of “Faded Glory” shorts (28,052.91 dozen).

Purchase Orders from Public Clothing Company

Three days later, Public Clothing Company, another Walmart supplier placed an order with Simco for 289,044 pairs of “OP” shorts. This document shows the PO or purchase order from Public Clothing Company for a part of the order -- which clearly names the customer as Walmart Stores--and the spread sheet for the entire order.

Letter of Credit

This is the Letter of Credit between Success Apparel and Simco. It assured payment to Simco’s bank (Agrani Bank Ltd.) from Success Apparel’s bank (Wells Fargo) once the Faded Glory shorts order was complete. It’s dated October 2, 2012, with an addendum on November 15, 2012. The total amount to be paid was $1,023,961.03.

Simco Dresses - Tuba Garments Subcontract Application

This document is evidence of Simco's subcontract of a portion of Success Apparel’s Faded Glory order -- 25,000 shorts --  to Tuba Garments. The order was meant to be completed by Tuba no later than November 30, 2012.

Simco - Tazreen Subcontract

This document, found in the ruins of the burned out Tazreen factory, shows a portion of the subcontract order by Simco for some of the Faded Glory shorts. It’s dated November 17, 2012 and includes a part of Simco’s original purchase order with Success Apparel.

Shipment Invoice

This is Simco’s invoice for shipping a portion of the Faded Glory order to Success Apparel.

"Fire at Subcon"

This email was sent from Success Apparel’s agent in Bangladesh, True Colors, to Simco. “Subcon” is industry-speak for subcontractor. This email suggests that True Colors may well have known about the subcontract to Tazreen before the fire.

Walmart Auditor Quality Inspection Report

This is a copy of the quality inspection report by the Walmart approved auditor Bureau Veritas. It was an inspection of what seems to have been the final portion of the Faded Glory shorts order before they were shipped out to Success Apparel. The products all passed the inspection.

"Simco goods will be abandoned"

This email from Success Apparel informed Simco that all their shipments had been cancelled by Walmart. The completed Faded Glory order that Simco had shipped to Success would be abandoned. Simco says they lost more than a million dollars on this cancelled order and had to lay off hundreds of their workers. This was when the Simco factory directors realized they were being made to pay the price for the subcontract to Tazreen -- and ultimately, the fire that claimed at least 112 lives.

Walmart List of Banned Factories

In May 2013, following the deadly Rana Plaza building collapse, Walmart published a list of over 240 factories in Bangladesh that it would no longer do business with. There was no explanation as to why. Simco was one of the factories on this list.