Singapore Police Force confirmed on August 20 that it has started investigating Radiant World, a major global iron ore trader, following receipt of reports concerning the company’s activities [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. A spokesperson said, "The Singapore Police Force has begun looking into Radiant World after receiving reports on the iron ore trader" [1].
Radiant World, headquartered in Singapore with over 100 employees worldwide and offices in Dubai, Shanghai, London, Geneva, Connecticut, and Mumbai, trades more than 80 million metric tons of iron ore annually, valued at about US$7.5 billion [3]. The company’s founder is Pinkesh Nahar, listed as a Singapore resident in public records [2, 3, 6].
The investigation follows reports that several key commodity counterparties, including Vitol Group and Cargill, halted trading with Radiant World starting around July 31 amid concerns about the use of falsified documents in transactions [2, 6]. Radiant World has laid off some operations staff as counterparties and banks have retreated [3].
Banks such as Deutsche Bank and KBC Group have frozen some of Radiant World’s Singapore accounts, and other lenders have suspended credit lines. The commodities broker Marex Group also froze all Radiant World accounts amid allegations the company used invalid invoices to raise funds [3, 5, 7].
The US Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are conducting probes into Radiant World’s business practices and trades involving its creditors [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. The Justice Department’s investigation is linked to counterparty concerns over falsified documents [1]. The UK Financial Conduct Authority is monitoring related developments but declined to comment on any investigations [6].
Radiant World denies any wrongdoing, stating it "conducts its business to the highest commercial and legal standards" [3, 5, 6, 8]. Authorities in Singapore and the US have not indicated any charges so far, and investigations do not necessarily lead to prosecution [1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8].
Following the freezing of bank accounts and credit lines, Radiant World has sought to improve liquidity by selling commodity inventories [6]. The company continues to cooperate with authorities as its Singapore offices remain operational amid the probe [3].
