SINGAPORE – A United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) scholarship funded by Radiant World is under review following global investigations and allegations of trade finance fraud by the Singapore-based iron ore trader.
UWCSEA, which has campuses in Dover and Tampines, is an international school in Singapore offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma.
Radiant World’s website says its foundation funds scholarships for talented young women from India to pursue IB at UWCSEA and UWC UK.
In response to The Straits Times’ queries, UWCSEA said Radiant World approached the school two years ago with an offer to “fund scholars to come to our school”.
The offer was accepted under the guidance of the school’s gift acceptance policy, which “requires due diligence and provides for review of the gift if circumstances change”.
“In light of recent reports, the gift from Radiant World is currently under review,” UWCSEA said on Sept 9.
UWCSEA added that the gift currently funds one scholar, and the school is committed to supporting that scholar for the duration of the two-year scholarship.
The review follows allegations that Radiant World used invalid or falsified documents to obtain financing. Major banks, miners and commodity traders have pulled back from Radiant World. Several creditors are pursuing legal actions against the company and its founder, Pinkesh Nahar.
The Singapore police had previously told ST that it is investigating the company. This follows similar actions from authorities in the United States and United Kingdom.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority declined comment, while the US Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission had not responded to queries from ST.
Radiant World has denied wrongdoing. The allegations have not been proven in court.
Enterprise Singapore, which oversees the growth and development of Singapore’s commodity sector, told ST on Sept 10 that Radiant World Corporation and its related entities are not supported by the agency in any way.
This includes initiatives such as the Global Trader Programme, which offers concessionary tax rates to qualifying companies with substantial trading operations in Singapore.
“We are monitoring developments but expect limited impact on Singapore’s commodities trading ecosystem,” an Enterprise Singapore spokesperson said, adding that it is unable to comment further on the case as investigations are ongoing.
Rapid rise
Radiant World was founded by Nahar in the early 2000s, according to its website. Filings in Singapore made to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) show that the Indian national has a residential address in Sentosa Cove. ST visited the address on Aug 27 but was unable to establish if Nahar was residing there.
The iron ore trader’s principal Singapore operating company, Radiant World Corporation, was registered as Royalline Trading in 2012. ACRA records show that it is wholly owned by Hong Kong-based Radiant World Holding. Its website says it has presence in six other markets including China, India, UAE, US, UK and Switzerland.
Radiant World changed its Singapore registered address from 30 Cecil Street to 6 Battery Road in April 2026, according to business records platform RecordOwl.
But security staff at 30 Cecil Street told ST that the office space has been unoccupied for “around two years”. The unit was a vacant concrete space when ST visited on Sept 10.
This vacant unit at 30 Cecil Street was previously registered as Radiant World’s address.
ST PHOTO: TIMOTHY GOH
Globally, the company expanded rapidly while remaining relatively little known outside commodity-trading circles.
Bloomberg reported that Radiant World’s iron ore volumes grew almost tenfold over the decade to 2025, turning it into one of the world’s largest traders of the steelmaking ingredient. Chinese media reported that it was expected to trade between 65 million and 70 million tonnes in 2025.
Corporate filings show revenue at its Singapore operating company rose from about US$3 billion (S$3.8 billion) in 2021 to US$9.6 billion in the 2025 financial year, when the company reported net profit of US$140.9 million.
Data from a risk intelligence platform Sayari shows that Radiant World’s key suppliers are from India, while its top buyers are from Vietnam.
Vietnamese buyer Do Thanh Aluminium Joint Stock Company accounted for the largest proportion of Radiant World’s shipments, according to the platform.
Others include August Star Electrical Equipment Company, Tung Yang Company, Phuong Trung Trading Joint Stock Company and Seojin Vina Company. All of them could not be reached by ST on the phone.
ST also contacted India-based Text Step Services and JSW Techno Projects Management, which were identified in the records as suppliers to Radiant World. Neither responded to queries.
Litany of lawsuits
ACRA records show that Radiant World has secured financing from 22 banks and trade finance providers. Commodity traders typically rely on short-term financing to pay for cargoes and shipments before receiving money from their customers.
Radiant World’s difficulties emerged after trading houses and lenders began questioning documents connected with its financing.
Vitol and Cargill stopped trading with the company, while Glencore stopped entering into new business with it. Deutsche Bank and KBC subsequently froze some of Radiant World’s Singapore accounts, according to Bloomberg, while other lenders suspended credit lines.
Mining groups Rio Tinto and Vale also stopped dealing with the trader.
The allegations became more specific in a lawsuit filed by Singapore-based trade finance firm Incomlend.
Incomlend alleged that Radiant World raised US$31.7 million using Glencore invoices that had already been paid and contracts that Glencore subsequently said were not genuine.
It is seeking over US$34 million, including damages, from the company, Nahar and Amit Sharma, who manages Tanas Capital, a private investment firm linked to Nahar. Incomlend did not respond to ST’s request for comment.
The case adds to legal action initiated in Singapore by Mizuho Bank, a unit of Japanese lender Mizuho Financial Group, which is seeking an injunction against Radiant World. The next hearing is scheduled for Sept 23.
The bank is seeking to appoint two Deloitte LLP restructuring professionals as interim judicial managers of the trader, according to court documents.
When contacted by ST, Mizuho declined to comment while Deloitte said it is unable to comment on ongoing proceedings.
The judicial management case is scheduled for a case conference on Sept 17, according to court documents seen by ST.
On Sept 10, a fund run by Jefferies Financial Group – LAM Trade Finance Group II – won a freezing injunction in Singapore against Radiant World and Nahar, Bloomberg reported.
Lawyers representing the defendants declined to comment when approached by ST on Sept 9 after a closed hearing.
The Jefferies fund had earlier won a worldwide freezing order against the same defendants in London’s High Court. In the UK lawsuit, Jefferies accused the defendants of falsifying iron ore invoices, adding that its claim was worth around US$500 million.
Trade finance safeguards
The Radiant World case has renewed attention on the Trade Finance Registry, a system conceived in 2020 following several high-profile commodity trading collapses.
Launched in 2023 by The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), the registry serves as a centralised database to help detect trade finance fraud.
In response to ST’s query, ABS director Ong-Ang Ai Boon said participating banks can submit invoice details, shipping information contained in bills of lading and information from other relevant trade documents in the registry.
When two or more lenders submit trade transactions containing matching data, the registry generates a “near real-time alert”, allowing them to undertake further checks, and reject financing applications where necessary, she said in a reply on Sept 3.
Banks must also file suspicious transaction reports with the relevant authorities when transactions are assessed to be suspicious, she added.
ABS did not confirm how many of the 22 lenders holding registered charges against Radiant World were active participants in the registry.
Participation is based on each bank’s commercial decision, said Ong-Ang in a further reply on Sept 10.
She acknowledged that while the registry can identify possible duplicate financing, it does not verify the authenticity of underlying trade documents or determine whether they are fraudulent.
She added that the registry currently does not have cross-border linkages with similar platforms in other jurisdictions, although such possibilities are being explored. This gap makes it harder to prevent traders from using the same documents to obtain financing in multiple jurisdictions.
In a December 2025 article on Global Trade Review (GTR), a DBS Bank executive was quoted as saying that the registry has more than 40 participants, and the usage rate grew by 70 per cent in 2025 from a year ago. DBS is a founding partner of the Trade Finance Registry.
But market sources told GTR that the registry’s effectiveness has been limited as some lenders have not been routinely submitting transactions into the system as part of their compliance process.
In response to ST’s queries, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Aug 29 that banks have measures to review and manage their exposures to borrowers and counterparties.
“Banks are also required to file suspicious transaction reports where they identify suspicious activities in their customers’ accounts,” an MAS spokesman said.
MAS did not confirm whether it was working with banks and the police to trace or freeze funds connected with Radiant World, and whether it had received suspicious transaction reports concerning the company.
IRAS declined to comment on queries sent by ST in late August, citing taxpayer confidentiality concerns.
Separately, as at Sept 10, Radiant World is still listed as a member of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF). SBF, which is Singapore’s apex business chamber, told ST in late August that it would not be able to provide information.
Although founder Nahar keeps a low profile, the 46-year-old posted on social media platform X in 2019 that he spoke at the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) Iron Ore Week that year.
The event was rebranded as Singapore International Ferrous Week in 2021. Radiant World later described itself in a LinkedIn post as a “supporter” of the event. SGX had previously declined to comment.
