Radiant World's lawsuit against Jefferies-linked fund claims it only has $10,000 in cash
Radiant World, a trader in iron ore, may only have $10,000?in cash despite its financial statements referring to?cash amounts of more than 200 million dollars, according to lawyers representing a Jefferies fund that is suing Radiant for an alleged fraud.
LAM Trade Finance Group II, a company in which US bank Jefferies holds a minor stake, received a freezing order from the London High Court last month against Radiant World, its founder Pinkesh Nahar, as well as Sapphire Minmetals which was formerly part of this company.
Last month, the Singapore police force announced that it was investigating Radiant World following reports that some invoices sent to its banks were not valid.
Radiant World did not respond to a Thursday request for comment. Radiant World has denied the allegations. Sapphire Minmetals has not responded to a request for comment.
LAM Trade Finance Group II says that it has obtained freeze orders in Hong Kong and Singapore. It purchased iron ore receivables, from companies associated with Radiant and/or Sapphire. By doing so, it acquired the right to receive payment by traders like Glencore and Vitol.
In its lawsuit against Radiant World, the company claimed that?those receivables were either not present or not properly assigned.
The judge who made the order to freeze the funds said: "It seems that the defendants used debit notes for as long as possible, and that 'the water has run out'."
Receivables in trading are the amounts of money owed to a business by its customers, for goods delivered but not paid?for.
In a document that his lawyers submitted for the hearing on Thursday, Nahar stated that it wasn't clear what role he is alleged to have had.
The document said that Nahar had indicated his intention to challenge the court’s jurisdiction. It described the case as a "substantial, complex, $500,000,000 international fraud claim".
Lawyers for LAM Trade Finance Group II insisted in court documents at a hearing on Thursday that the freezing order be maintained because there was a risk that the defendants might dissipate their assets.
The asset totals given in a witness's statement for Radiant World are "substantially" different from the financial statements of the year ending September 30, 2025.
They said: "The audited Financial Statements refer to cash balances of over $200 million, whereas (the statement says) that Radiant World only holds $10,000 in cash."
Radiant World is involved in several other lawsuits. It sued Glencore Singapore for more than $2 billion.
Judge Andrew Henshaw announced on Thursday that a London hearing is likely to be held in late December.
(source: Reuters)
