Auditor resigns from Sanjeev Gupta’s UK steel companies
The auditor of many of the companies in Sanjeev Gupta’s network of metals companies has resigned from at least five of them, amid an investigation of its work by UK regulators.
London-based King & King has resigned as auditor of the companies in Gupta’s GFG Alliance, a sprawling group of firms under his control.
The accountant is under investigation by the accounting regulator, the Financial Reporting Council, for its audits of four GFG companies.
Gupta’s businesses have faced intense scrutiny for well over a year after his main financial backer, Greensill Capital, collapsed in March 2021.
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in May 2021 announced that it was investigating Gupta Family Group Alliance (GFG Alliance) and Greensill for “suspected fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering”. The SFO attended GFG offices in April 2022 to request documents, but GFG has denied any wrongdoing and has said it will work with investigators.
The turmoil has caused concerns for the future of thousands of workers employed by Gupta. GFG has previously claimed to employ 35,000 people worldwide.
The companies which reported auditor resignations on Thursday included Liberty Speciality Steels, Speciality Steel UK, and Liberty Steel Dalzell, according to filings published on Thursday on the UK companies register. Those entities run steel mills in Rotherham and Stocksbridge in South Yorkshire, which employ close to 2,000 people, and another near Motherwell, south of Glasgow.
The other businesses that reported King & King’s resignation were Liberty Pressing Solutions (Coventry) and Liberty Steel Distribution, according to a review of businesses that list Gupta as a director. The Financial Times first reported King & King had begun resigning from
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