Sanjeev Gupta thanked minister for key role in securing loans for Greensill
Sanjeev Gupta thanked the Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi for his “personally instrumental” role in enabling Greensill Capital to make taxpayer-backed Covid business support loans, in a letter released by the government.
Greensill collapsed last year, sparking a lobbying scandal involving the former prime minister David Cameron and a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into more than £300m of loans to businesses linked to GFG Alliance, the metals conglomerate run by Gupta, under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loans Scheme (CLBILS).
Last year the National Audit Office said the government-owned British Business Bank (BBB), which has now suspended government guarantees backing the loans, gave Greensill Capital access to the scheme without subjecting the firm to detailed checks, leaving taxpayers facing a £335m loss.
It has emerged that in October 2020 Gupta sent a letter to Zahawi, then a minister in the business department (BEIS), thanking him for getting the bank to approve Greensill’s access to the loan scheme.
“Since you were personally instrumental in getting the BBB’s approval for Greensill Capital to provide financial assistance under the CLBILS programme, it would be very fitting if you could join us to mark this special moment that provides relief to thousands of workers,” said Gupta in the letter, released following a freedom of information request lodged by the Financial Times.
In the letter, Gupta went as far as inviting Zahawi, who was promoted to education secretary in the autumn, to a “small gathering” at his steelworks in Rotherham to mark the Greensill loan success.
The letter was sent days before a formal investigation into Greensill and the loans to GFG-linked firms was launched.
“The department
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