Who is Bankim Brahmbhatt, and why was he accused of a ₹4,400 crore fraud? The massive scam has shocked the world.

News Topical, Digital Desk : Indian-origin Bankim Brahmbhatt has been accused of fraud in the United States totaling thousands of crores of rupees. The private-credit investing arm of American multinational investment company BlackRock and other lenders are trying to recover the money.

Meanwhile, Bankim Brahmbhatt, owner of a telecom services company, has denied the allegations against him. Lenders have accused him of manipulating accounts receivable, which were supposed to serve as loan collateral.

Who is Bankim Brahmabhatt?

Bankim Brahmbhatt owns Broadband Telecom and Bridgevoice, two lesser-known companies in the global telecom services sector. There's not much information available about Bankim Brahmbhatt online, and he did have a LinkedIn profile, which has now been deleted.

Speaking of the companies themselves, both belong to the Bankai Group, which in a July X post listed Bankim Brahmbhatt as President and CEO. Bankai Group's X bio describes it as "a globally recognized leader in the telecommunications industry, with a strong presence in the telecom technology and carrier businesses, including telcos, operators, and other companies."

According to its website, Bankim Brahmbhatt's business provides infrastructure and connectivity solutions to other telecom operators worldwide. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Brahmbhatt's offices were previously located in Garden City, New York.

According to lenders, they created a network of financing vehicles, including Cariox Capital and BB Capital SPV, which borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars from private-credit investors led by BlackRock's HPS Investment Partners, a private-credit company recently acquired by BlackRock.

Lenders have accused him of forging customer invoices and using those fake receivables as collateral for loans totaling more than $500 million. Brahmbhatt's lawyer has denied these allegations.

Where is Brahmabhatt now?

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Brahmbhatt is currently in India. A person working at HPS reportedly visited the Garden City offices of Brahmbhatt's companies in July and found them closed. The office was closed on Wednesday and appeared empty. A neighboring tenant said he hadn't seen anyone in the space recently.

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