Singapore police have launched an investigation into iron ore trader Radiant World after receiving reports against the company. This action follows concerns raised by some of Radiant World's counterparties regarding allegedly falsified documents, which have also triggered probes by US authorities, including the US Justice Department and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Financial Conduct Authority in the UK is also monitoring the situation.
Radiant World has faced increasing pressure recently, with several major commodity traders, such as Vitol Group and Cargill, ceasing to trade with the firm. Creditors like Deutsche Bank and KBC Group have frozen some of Radiant's Singapore bank accounts, and other lenders have suspended credit lines. Commodities broker Marex Group has also frozen all of Radiant World's accounts. These actions stem from allegations that Radiant World provided invalid invoices or documents to banks for financing. For instance, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA reportedly found some underlying trades associated with invoices from Vitol Group did not exist when checked.
In response to the financial strain, Radiant World has laid off an unspecified number of operations staff, including some in its Dubai office, and sold a significant portion of its aluminum inventory to STG, a trading company backed by Squarepoint, to raise cash. The company, founded by Pinkesh Nahar, trades over 80 million tons of iron ore annually, valued at more than $7.5 billion. Despite these allegations, Radiant World has not been accused of wrongdoing, and the company stated it was unaware of any US investigations, previously describing claims of impropriety as inaccurate and unsubstantiated.
