Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The sum awarded to Trafigura in a high-profile fraud case against tycoon Prateek Gupta has climbed by nearly half to $700mn.
The Indian businessman on Thursday was refused permission to appeal a judgment by the High Court in London last month that Trafigura had been “the victim of fraud on a grand scale devised and implemented by Prateek Gupta”.
The court previously said Gupta was liable to pay Trafigura $500mn in damages, a figure that rose 40 per cent to about $700mn, including $140mn in interest, after Thursday’s hearing.
He could still apply directly to the Court of Appeal to challenge the judgment.
“We welcome today’s ruling, which holds Mr Gupta liable for c. $700mn, plus legal costs. Trafigura intends to take steps to enforce the judgment and pursue recovery of the sums awarded,” the company said after the hearing.
Trafigura says it lost about $600mn in the scheme perpetrated by Gupta and companies he controlled. It involved the transportation of purported nickel shipments that in fact contained various low-value materials.
The Singapore-based group is also seeking information about the extent to which two Emirati companies had funded Gupta’s legal costs, lawyers for Trafigura told the court.
Nathan Pillow KC for Trafigura told the court that both Nomas Global Investments and Anza Capital Investments appeared to be “controlled” by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Sultan Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi.
“My client understandably wants to know why the Abu Dhabi royal family was advancing money to Mr Gupta,” he told the court.
The trading house said in a submission that it had “repeatedly asked for information about the terms on which funding was provided” but that Gupta’s responses “have been patchy, at best”.
Trafigura was now considering seeking to recover money from the two groups, it said in a submission.
Gupta’s legal team said in submissions that his previous solicitors had disclosed copies of funding arrangements with Anza and Nomas.
The two companies did not immediately respond to requests from the FT seeking comment.
The court also agreed to cut Gupta’s monthly living expenses from £20,000 to £5,000 following a request by Trafigura, which the businessman’s lawyers did not challenge.
Gupta alleged during last year’s trial that several Trafigura employees had colluded in the fraud scheme. However, Mr Justice Saini ruled Gupta’s claim not credible and said that the employees were “wholly innocent of any wrongdoing”.
Trafigura alleged in court on Thursday that Gupta had taken “steps to frustrate the investigation”, including attempting to delay or prevent inspections of cargoes, and by “faking a serious medical emergency in November 2022”.
That had involved claiming that he was “in intensive care following a heart attack and cardiac surgery” in order to “play for time”, the trading group said.
Fox Williams, the law firm now representing Gupta, declined to comment after the hearing.
The lawyers who had represented Gupta in the trial last year resigned as his representatives just before the judgment was announced in January.