The U.K. Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched an investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering in financing arrangements between steel and mining magnate Sanjeev Gupta and recently collapsed Greensill Capital.
The SFO announced Friday that it is investigating ties between the Gupta Family Group Alliance (GFG), which is run by Sanjeev Gupta, and Greensill but offered no further details, noting the case is under investigation.
Gupta and the GFG own Liberty Steel Group, which operates 200 manufacturing facilities, service centers, and distribution sites in 10 countries. The firm services sectors such as construction, energy, aerospace, automotive, and infrastructure and employs 30,000 people worldwide, according to its Website.
In a statement, the GFG said it would “cooperate fully” with the SFO’s investigation.
“As these matters are the subject of an SFO investigation, we cannot make any further comment. GFG Alliance continues to serve its customers around the world and is making progress in the refinancing of its operations, which are benefitting from the operational improvements it has made and the very strong steel, aluminium, and iron ore markets,” the firm said through a spokesperson.
Liberty recently announced a restructuring of its Greensill-related financing, including the naming of a new chief financial officer as well as making appointments to the new posts of chief restructuring officer, chief transformation officer, and chief governance officer.
The company also appointed a specialist board of directors to investigate the collapse, which “will be given full autonomy to restructure Liberty’s operations to focus on core profitable units and either fix or sell underperforming units,” Liberty Steel said.
Greensill Capital filed for bankruptcy protection in March, after financers walked away from the specialty financing firm over concerns about risky loans that soured. Among the banks most affected by Greensill’s collapse were Japan’s SoftBank Group and Switzerland’s Credit Suisse.
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