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☆ Over half a million silver coins just vanished – now the metals dealer behind the 'fraudulent' scheme must pay $146 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Joseph Wilkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A precious metals dealer has been asked to pay up $146 million in damages after over half a million silver coins went missing. Robert Higgins ran a "fraudulent and deceptive scheme" linked to the purchase and sale of precious metals, the CFTC said. From 2014 to 2022, Higgins led a 'fraudulent silver leasing program' that took deposits from almost 200 customers. Higgins ran a "fraudulent and deceptive scheme", and was ordered to pay $113 million to clients and $33 million in penalties, according to the CFTC. The precious metals industry has seen a series of scams in recent times.

Persons: Robert Higgins, Higgins, —, Prateek Gupta Organizations: Service, Commodities Futures Trading Commission, Asset, Depository Company, US Treasury, London Metal Exchange Locations: Delaware, Rotterdam, Singapore

☆ Gupta seeks extension to challenge freezing order in Trafigura case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - Prateek Gupta's lawyers are seeking an extension of a deadline to challenge a $625 million global freezing order imposed by a London Court on the Indian businessman and his firms until June, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. Freezing orders are injunctions granted by the English courts to restrain individuals or businesses from disposing of or dealing with assets on a worldwide basis. Gupta previously aimed to prepare "a robust response" to the allegations and file the application to remove the freezing order by April 6. A London court imposed the freezing order, dated Feb. 8, on bank accounts and other assets tied to Gupta and seven companies Trafigura said are controlled by him, including those in Britain, Singapore, Malaysia and Switzerland. Reporting by Pratima Desai, Eric Onstad and Polina Devitt; editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The world's top metals trader is stuck in another nickel-shipment snafu after getting bags of stones from a Dutch warehouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trafigura discovered that it received bag of stones from a warehouse in Rotterdam instead of nickel. Last month, Trafigura disclosed an unrelated fraud on nickel shipments and faces a $577 million loss. Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that JPMorgan Chase was the owner of bags of stones at the warehouse. Stratton Metals, a metal trader in Europe, also reportedly got bags of stones instead of nickel. Meanwhile, Trafigura has said there's no connection between the bags of stones and a separate snafu related to nickel cargoes.

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) has discovered that some of its registered nickel is missing. Bags of stones shouldn't pass any inspection, whether at original load-in or during the annual audit of registered stock required by the LME's warehousing agreement. But it folds into the bigger issues around the exchange's governance and regulatory capacity after the blow-out of the nickel contract this time last year. BROKEN NICKELThe latest scandal will also intensify the question of whether the LME nickel contract is fulfilling the function of efficient price discovery forum. The nickel market was already looking for different pricing solutions before the March 8, 2022 suspension of LME nickel trading.

☆ JPMorgan Chase thought it had $1.3 million of nickel, but they were all bags of stones. It's happened before.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

JPMorgan Chase kept bags of stones in a warehouse thinking they were nickel. In November 2022, commodities trading giant Trafigura discovered carbon steel and other types of steel and iron instead of the nickel it had ordered. Carbon steel tends to be priced at about 5% of the value of the costlier metal, according to the Financial Times. Nickel prices surged to around $50,000 a metric ton on March 7, 2022 and then to $100,000 a ton a day later, but have come off to around $22,800 a ton ton now. In the complaint, a merchant called Nanni criticized his supplier for sending him low-quality copper ingots and demanded his money back.

☆ LME finds 'irregularities' in several nickel bags at a warehouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 17 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) on Friday postponed the resumption of nickel trading during Asian hours by a week to March 27 after it found nickel that failed to meet contract specifications at an LME warehouse. The LME said it had cancelled nine nickel warrants - an ownership document for metals placed in an LME-approved warehouse - at one warehouse facility, without naming it. The LME said the non-conformant warrants represent 0.14% of live nickel stock in its warehouses. The 146-year-old LME said the issues with nickel related to bagged nickel briquettes, which were found to not have the correct weight. The exchange said it had no reason to believe that any other LME facility was affected, but still called on all warehouse operators to undertake inspections of warranted nickel.

☆ Businessman accused by Trafigura living in Dubai's Palm Jumeirah-court document
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Eric Onstad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - Indian businessman Prateek Gupta, whom commodity trader Trafigura has accused of "systematic fraud" regarding nickel shipments, is living in the sought-after Palm Jumeirah area of Dubai, London court documents said. A London High Court judge agreed to impose a $625 million freezing order on assets controlled by Gupta and companies linked to him, which included a villa in Palm Jumeirah, the freezing order document said. A spokesperson for Gupta has said he plans to challenge the freezing order. Palm Jumeirah is a man-made island shaped like a palm and regarded as one of the most sought-after areas of Dubai. "Trafigura does not know whether Mr Gupta is the beneficial owner of this property," said an affidavit by Joseph O'Keeffe, a lawyer representing Trafigura.

☆ Metal tycoon sued over missing $577 million in nickel told cargo inspectors he'd had a heart attack, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An Indian tycoon sued over missing nickel cargoes told inspectors he'd had a heart attack, per the FT.Trafigura alleges many of Prateek Gupta's shipments didn't contain any nickel and it faces a $577 million loss. Commodities trading giant Trafigura has sued Prateek Gupta and companies associated with him, including TMT Metals and UIL Malaysia. Trafigura's head nickel trader, Sokratis Oikonomou, arranged for a physical inspection of the cargoes shipped by Gupta's firms on November 9, the report said. Trafigura has said none of the Rotterdam containers had the the nickel previously agreed in orders, but contained carbon steel instead. Gupta was hit with a $625 million freezing order by a London court after Trafigura filed its fraud lawsuit.

Prateek Gupta is the 43-year-old scion of an Indian family that ran a public metals-and-power company. Even before Trafigura Group said phony nickel shipments could cost it up to $577 million, some people and businesses had decided to steer clear of both Prateek Gupta—the businessman Trafigura says is responsible for the alleged misconduct—and a Swiss firm Mr. Gupta had acquired. Commodity-trading giant Trafigura has accused Mr. Gupta and related companies of committing “systematic fraud.” It says it agreed to buy nickel—a hot commodity, due to the electric-vehicle boom—but instead received other, cheaper cargoes.

☆ Column: The devil's metal strikes again in Trafigura nickel fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Andy Home | Thomson Reuters | Senior Metals Columnist Who Previously Covered Industrial Metals Markets For Metals Week | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Appearances can be deceptive when it comes to nickel, as Trafigura has just found out half a millennium later. Just as it's impossible to say whether some of the recent price volatility on the LME nickel contract was down to Trafigura restructuring hedge positions. The problem is that LME nickel trading has been volatile and unpredictable ever since last year's meltdown. There is now also a growing crisis of confidence in the world of physical nickel trading. Nickel could really do with a reputational break but recent history suggests it's just a matter of time before the devil's metal strikes again.

☆ A top commodity trader is staring down a $577 million loss after discovering metal cargoes it bought were missing nickel, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trafigura faces a $577 million loss on nickel shipments in what the company calls a systemic fraud, according to Bloomberg. The commodities trading giant discovered some of the metal cargoes it bought were missing nickel. A full container of nickel, an expensive metal that is typically traded in large volumes, can be worth roughly $500,000. Trafigura has begun legal action against Indian businessman Prateek Gupta and several companies connected to him, including TMT Metals and UD Trading Group. When contacted by Bloomberg, UD Trading's Dubai office had no comment, and its calls to TMT Metals' London office went unanswered.

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