The North Platte Telegraph reported that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, after launching an investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering by parent firm GFG Alliance almost a year ago, has visited the offices of Liberty Steel across England, Scotland and Wales to request documents including company balance sheets, annual reports and correspondence related to the investigation. A spokeswoman for the SFO said “Investigators spoke with executives at multiple addresses, who co-operated with the operation. As the investigation is ongoing, the SFO can provide no further comment.”The reports said that a spokesman for GFG Alliance declined to comment but in an internal memo to employees were told “We will comply with the information request orders and will continue to cooperate fully in all manners. We have in place very strict information and document preservation policies which we implemented prior to the SFO announcement. We appreciate these enquiries can be disruptive and concerning for employees and stakeholders. However, we are encouraged that the investigation is now progressing and is moving closer to a conclusion.”It comes after French police visited the Paris offices of GFG Alliance earlier this week in its own probe of Mr Sanjeev Gupta’s business empire.Mr Sanjeev Gupta was once lauded as the savior of steel for rescuing factories in UK, but has come under heavy scrutiny amid accusations of potentially fraudulent trading after his main lender, Greensill Capital, collapsed a year ago. GFG used so-called supply chain finance services offered by Greensill. This meant that if GFG sold a product to a different company, it could send the invoice to Greensill and be paid right away, rather than having to wait potentially months for the customer to pay its bills. Bringing in money this way can be useful for companies with tight cash flows.
The North Platte Telegraph reported that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, after launching an investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering by parent firm GFG Alliance almost a year ago, has visited the offices of Liberty Steel across England, Scotland and Wales to request documents including company balance sheets, annual reports and correspondence related to the investigation. A spokeswoman for the SFO said “Investigators spoke with executives at multiple addresses, who co-operated with the operation. As the investigation is ongoing, the SFO can provide no further comment.”The reports said that a spokesman for GFG Alliance declined to comment but in an internal memo to employees were told “We will comply with the information request orders and will continue to cooperate fully in all manners. We have in place very strict information and document preservation policies which we implemented prior to the SFO announcement. We appreciate these enquiries can be disruptive and concerning for employees and stakeholders. However, we are encouraged that the investigation is now progressing and is moving closer to a conclusion.”It comes after French police visited the Paris offices of GFG Alliance earlier this week in its own probe of Mr Sanjeev Gupta’s business empire.Mr Sanjeev Gupta was once lauded as the savior of steel for rescuing factories in UK, but has come under heavy scrutiny amid accusations of potentially fraudulent trading after his main lender, Greensill Capital, collapsed a year ago. GFG used so-called supply chain finance services offered by Greensill. This meant that if GFG sold a product to a different company, it could send the invoice to Greensill and be paid right away, rather than having to wait potentially months for the customer to pay its bills. Bringing in money this way can be useful for companies with tight cash flows.
