SINGAPORE - Singapore's courts have become the battleground for what one creditor calls possibly the biggest commodities fraud since Enron, after a High Court judge ordered interim judicial managers to investigate suspected fraud at iron ore trader Radiant World.
In a judgment issued in September 2026, Judge Kristy Tan appointed KPMG as interim managers of Radiant World on the application of creditor Mizuho Bank, writing that there was enough initial evidence that the company is or is likely to become unable to pay its debts. The judge found an urgent need for interim managers to investigate the company's affairs in light of what she described as a prima facie pattern of fraudulent conduct on the part of the company's management.
The most explosive allegations come from LAM Trade Finance Group II, a fund run by Jefferies' Point Bonita Capital and Radiant World's largest single creditor. The fund, owed more than US$610 million under financing deals, alleges that Radiant World and its associate Sapphire Minmetals falsified documents for at least 50 receivables with a nominal value totalling nearly US$900 million. More than US$550 million of the financing was linked to purported sales to commodities giants Glencore and Vitol.
Both Glencore and Vitol have provided evidence that the documents were falsified and told the fund they have no outstanding obligations to it. A London court has granted the fund a US$499 million freezing order against the global assets of Radiant, Sapphire and their majority owners Pinkesh Nahar and Rakesh Sethi. The companies have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Radiant World has hit back with its own claims. According to its website, Radiant and ten other companies have commenced proceedings in the Singapore courts against Glencore International and associated companies, seeking damages exceeding US$2 billion arising from a commercial relationship spanning more than a decade. Glencore has called those claims meritless, alleging instead that Radiant sent falsified invoices, contracts and fabricated emails purportedly from Glencore personnel to financial institutions.
The judge said the interim managers were needed to restore some degree of external confidence in Radiant World after financiers and trading counterparties froze accounts, issued demands and withdrew from commercial relationships. Court-appointed managers typically take over management of a company while the court decides whether to appoint a full judicial manager.
The case has drawn comparisons with the collapses of Hin Leong and other commodity traders that have battered Singapore's reputation as a trading hub. For a city-state that prides itself on the integrity of its financial system, the Radiant World saga is another bruising test, and the KPMG investigation will determine just how deep the alleged fraud runs.