Singapore police say they are looking into iron ore trader Radiant World

The company has come under scrutiny from counterparties in recent weeks because of concerns about invoices provided to its banks.

Commodities broker Marex Group has frozen all Radiant World’s accounts following allegations that the iron ore trader used invalid invoices to raise funds, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

Deutsche Bank and KBC Group NV have also frozen some of Radiant’s Singapore bank accounts, while some other lenders have suspended credit lines, Bloomberg News reported earlier in August. 

Radiant World is a global commodities trader that supplies metals and minerals to global industries. 

Radiant was founded by Pinkesh Nahar in the early 2000s, according to its website, which says the firm trades more than 80 million metric tons of iron ore annually. That would be worth more than US$7.5 billion at current SGX prices.

Reuters also reported that Radiant has laid off some operations staff as banks and counterparties retreat, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the topic. Radiant employs more than 100 people, according to its website, via offices in Singapore, Dubai, Shanghai, London, Geneva, Connecticut and Mumbai.

A spokesperson for Radiant declined to comment on the job cuts.