BlackRock, Global Lenders Hit by $500 Million Fraud Linked to Indian Entrepreneur Bankim Brahmbhatt
BlackRock’s private-credit arm, HPS Investment Partners, along with several global lenders, is attempting to recover hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly lost in a massive fraud orchestrated by Indian entrepreneur Bankim Brahmbhatt, founder of Broadband Telecom and Bridgevoice. According to The Wall Street Journal, Brahmbhatt fabricated telecom assets, invoices, and client contracts to secure more than $500 million in loans from international financiers, including HPS and BNP Paribas.
Investigations revealed that Brahmbhatt and his associates created fake websites and forged emails to impersonate telecom clients, misleading auditors and lenders for years. The fraud was uncovered in July 2024 when irregularities in customer verification emails were spotted during an audit, prompting Deloitte and CBIZ to confirm that the documents and client data were falsified. The deception, dating back to 2018, exposed significant lapses in due diligence among private-credit lenders.
Following the exposure, Brahmbhatt and his companies filed for bankruptcy, with reports suggesting he may have fled to India or Mauritius. HPS’s exposure rose to $430 million before the collapse, while BNP Paribas provisioned $220 million related to the case. Although the financial impact on BlackRock is said to be limited given HPS’s $179 billion asset base, the incident has prompted a sweeping review of asset-backed loan verification procedures across its portfolio.
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