French Govt. investigates disappearing Greensill loan to GFG Alliance’s Liberty Aluminium Poitou

The British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance is on the radar of the French government for preliminary investigation towards the disappearance of a loan dispensed by Greensill Capital to a French aluminium smelting plant. Greensill filed for insolvency protection on 8^th March 2021.

According to the sources, the case recounts a government-backed loan worth about €18 million issued to a GFG-owned facility, Liberty Aluminium Poitou, in central France. The local investigators will look up to ascertain whether any criminal offence occurred, as revealed by an official from the Ministry of Industry, France.

As per the report, Liberty Aluminium Poitou smelting plant secured the loan in December’20 but Greensill then solicited the money to be sent back in line with a two-month waiting period on such loans. However, the funds were never sent back to the plant after that period.

The industry ministry official quoted: “The state will support the business with its cash needs if necessary, but not bail out shareholders.”

Previous week Bruno Le Maire, Finance Minister, France said: “The state is closely monitoring all businesses in France owned by the Liberty group and will provide all the necessary support for workers.”

The collapse of Greensill earlier this month has intensified many questions, about its transformation from start-up to tech unicorn with an estimated $7 billion valuation and the scandal-hit hard to its biggest lender GFG.