British Fraud Unit Is Investigating Gupta and Greensill
Stanley Reed, 14 May 2021
Britain’s financial crime unit is investigating suspected fraud and money laundering involving the businesses of Sanjeev Gupta, whose global metals empire ballooned in recent years with the aid of billions of dollars in financing from the failed firm Greensill Capital.
The Serious Fraud Office said Friday it was looking into potential fraud “in relation to the financing and conduct of the business of companies” within the Gupta Family Group Alliance, “including its financing arrangements with Greensill Capital UK.”
The announcement is the first indication that British authorities may pursue criminal charges against Mr. Gupta, the metals trader who runs the loose collection of businesses that bear the family name, and his ties to the finance firm founded by Lex Greensill.
That company, which expanded quickly over the past decade, collapsed spectacularly in March, entangling SoftBank and Credit Suisse and igniting a political scandal in Britain.
The Gupta companies and Greensill Capital were closely intertwined, and Mr. Gupta and Mr. Greensill were entrepreneurs who got rich as their businesses expanded. Greensill built up its so-called supply chain finance business by lending money against the sales of Mr. Gupta’s companies.
Greensill then packaged the loans into securities to be sold to investors by Credit Suisse and other firms. Greensill’s collapse was partly caused by regulators’ and insurance companies’ concerns that it was overreliant on loans to the Gupta group.
