Trafigura Accuses Indian Businessman of Prior Fraud as $600 Million Metals Scam Trial Unfolds

Trafigura’s lawyers accused Indian businessman Prateek Gupta of a long history of fraudulent activity as he testified for the first time in London’s High Court on Wednesday. Gupta, who appeared remotely from Dubai, acknowledged he is under investigation for fraud in India but denied all allegations related to the commodity trader’s $600 million metals scam claim. Trafigura alleges that Gupta and his companies agreed to supply high-purity nickel but instead delivered low-value metals such as steel or scrap.

During cross-examination, Trafigura’s counsel Nathan Pillow cited earlier fraud cases involving Gupta’s companies, suggesting a pattern of substituting nickel with cheaper metals—claims Gupta rejected, insisting he was unaware of any wrongdoing. The dispute dates back to dealings that began in 2014 with Ushdev International Ltd, part of Gupta’s UD Group, which later went bankrupt and is now under insolvency proceedings. Gupta counters that Trafigura staff themselves devised a hidden trading scheme, pressing him in 2019 to dramatically increase nickel trade volumes under then-head trader Sokratis Oikonomou.

Gupta alleges that as sourcing large quantities of pure nickel became difficult and credit insurance limits restrictive, Trafigura executives proposed trading other metals, including nickel alloy and scrap, while hiding their true identity from financing bank Citi, which only funded pure nickel. Oikonomou, who was terminated in 2023, denies involvement in any fraud. The trial continues as both sides present sharply conflicting narratives of how one of the industry’s largest alleged metals scams unfolded.

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