SINGAPORE — Singapore-based iron ore trading firm Radiant World has launched a legal counteroffensive, filing a lawsuit in Singapore seeking about US$2 billion in damages from Swiss commodities giant Glencore, alleging fraud by Radiant World, breach of contract and conspiracy.
The suit lands in the middle of a rapidly escalating legal war. Jefferies Financial Group fund Point Bonita (LAM Trade Finance Group II) was granted a UK worldwide freezing order against Radiant World and its founder Pinkesh Naha, restricting each of them to spending of £4,000 (about S$7,000) a week. In September, the fund obtained a separate freeze injunction in the Singapore courts. Court filings by the Jefferies fund claim fraud of about US$500 million, and the fund is reported to have exposure of around US$499 million to Radiant World.
Separately, Singapore invoice financing platform Incomlend has filed a S$34 million lawsuit in Singapore, alleging that Radiant World used fake Glencore contracts and paid invoices to raise S$40.22 million (US$32 million). Insurers Allianz and Zurich have reported minimal insurance exposure to Radiant World, according to trade press reports.
Radiant World is one of Singapore's prominent iron ore trading houses, and the allegations of false documents and invoices provided to banks have rattled the city-state's commodity trade finance community, which is still scarred by earlier collapses including Hin Leong Trading.
Sapphire Minmetals Corporation, a related company, and its chairman and majority owner Rakesh Sethi, have also been drawn into the UK freeze proceedings. The interlocking claims — spanning Singapore, London and Hong Kong — underscore how a single trading firm's distress can cascade through the banking, insurance and invoice financing ecosystem in Asia's commodities hub.
Glencore, which is listed in London and has a market value of about US$88 billion, has not publicly detailed its position on Radiant World's Singapore suit. Industry participants say the dispute could become one of the largest commercial cases before Singapore's courts, with the outcome watched closely by banks and trading houses across the region.
The escalation has been rapid. September 2026 brought the UK worldwide freezing order obtained by the Jefferies fund Point Bonita (LAM Trade Finance Group II), capping weekly spending by Radiant World and founder Pinkesh Naha at £4,000 each, followed by a separate freeze injunction granted in the Singapore courts. The fund's filings allege fraud of about US$500 million and point to reported exposure of roughly US$499 million. Sapphire Minmetals Corporation, described as a related company, and its chairman and majority owner Rakesh Sethi have been drawn into the proceedings as well.
For Singapore's trade finance community, the allegations carry an uncomfortable echo of the Hin Leong Trading collapse, which exposed how fake documentation could circulate through the banking system. Insurers Allianz and Zurich have disclosed minimal exposure to Radiant World, but banks and invoice financiers with ties to the iron ore trader are now auditing their books. Whatever the courts decide about the fake-invoice claims and the Glencore counter-suit, the affair has already become a cautionary case study in counterparty risk in Asia's commodities hub.