Vitol told Deutsche Bank AG that Radiant World contracts with CFO’s signature were fake
Court ruling sheds further light on lenders’ efforts to assess, contain their exposure to Radiant.
In early August, Vitol Group informed Deutsche Bank AG that contracts purportedly signed by Vitol's CFO with Radiant World were not genuine, according to a Singapore court ruling. This confirmation likely contributed to Deutsche Bank's conclusion that it had been defrauded by Radiant World, as noted in a judge's order on September 24, which placed Radiant under interim judicial management.
The ruling further reveals that Deutsche Bank reached out to Vitol and Glencore following a Bloomberg report in July, which indicated that top traders, including Vitol, had halted business with Radiant due to concerns about it supplying banks with fake documents to secure loans. Deutsche Bank had purchased seven receivables from Radiant, backed by invoices claiming sales of iron ore to Vitol and other trading houses.
However, Vitol claimed it had no records of six of these invoices in its system. Additionally, contracts provided by Radiant World showing Vitol's CFO, Jay Ng, had not been signed or authorized by him, according to the judge's ruling, which was made based on a petition by Mizuho Bank, another lender to Radiant. Vitol also told Deutsche Bank on August 4 that documents provided by Radiant as evidence of Vitol's consent to the transactions were false.
The following day, Deutsche Bank informed Radiant that it had reasonable grounds to believe three Vitol transactions were false or fraudulent, demanding repayment of about US$48.6 million for those loans. The bank also transferred about US$11.25 million from Radiant's accounts to its Singapore subsidiary. On August 7, Deutsche Bank demanded the repayment of the remaining four receivables from Radiant World, asserting that the Vitol and Glencore transactions were false or fraudulent.
Radiant World denied these allegations, repeatedly stating it had not engaged in wrongdoing. Deutsche Bank has a maximum exposure of US$102.59 million to Radiant World and is pursuing all available recovery options. Vitol and Glencore declined to comment on the order.
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