If this extends beyond just a few people or just a few suppliers it could have a serious impact on world markets.
In the new case, US trading house Kataman Metals LLC alleges it paid $3.3 million for nickel from New Alloys Trading Pte. only to discover when it opened the containers that there was no nickel inside.
New Alloys is among the companies that Trafigura claims was part of the alleged Gupta fraud. New Alloys isn’t owned by Gupta, and the Kataman claim against New Alloys makes no mention of him.
Still, the trade appears to be part of a broader set of transactions involving several companies linked to Gupta . . .
“Each of the 7 shipping containers contained 16 or 17 jumbo bags containing waste steel briquettes which were virtually worthless,” the claim at Singapore’s Supreme Court states. A laboratory analysis of the material did not find any nickel present.
