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A New York judge has granted Trafigura permission to subpoena records from major banks to help trace the whereabouts of funds paid to a metals trader it accuses of fraud.

The commodity trading giant asked a court in New York late last month to grant it access to records held by several big banks for transfers made by companies and individuals connected to Prateek Gupta.

Trafigura has accused Gupta of orchestrating a US$600mn fraud by selling it cargoes of nickel but instead shipping containers full of worthless material.

In 2023, Trafigura filed a lawsuit against Gupta and several connected companies in England. Gupta and the companies deny the allegations and have claimed that Trafigura itself devised the alleged scheme, or was at least aware of it.

In the New York filing, Trafigura claims that the defendants in the English case have “failed to provide sufficient disclosure” for the Switzerland-based trader to determine who holds the money it paid for the nickel trades, prompting it to “resort to discovery from the US banks directly”.

“Trafigura seeks discovery from US banks that would show where Mr. Gupta and the [nickel] sellers transferred the purchase proceeds they received in exchange for the fraudulent shipments,” says a memorandum filed by Humpreet Grigoriadis, a London lawyer representing Trafigura.

“Additionally, it is hoped that discovery obtained from the US banks directly will enable Trafigura to independently trace the payments it made in respect of the disputed trades,” the filing says.

Judge Paul Oetken granted Trafigura’s application on January 31, court records show, allowing it to serve the subpoenas to lenders including Bank of China, Barclays, JP Morgan, Standard Chartered and UBS.

Companies often make discovery applications in US courts to support litigation elsewhere in the world. The banks were not party to the application and the judge granted the subpoenas without a hearing.

The filing representing Trafigura says the English courts “routinely” receive similar evidence in civil cases.

Trafigura sought records about payments made and received by companies including TMT Metals group companies, UIL (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Vadox Corp, as well as individuals including Ginni Gupta, Prateek’s wife. The couple are subject to a worldwide freezing order issued by a London court in 2023, which prevents them from disposing of assets up to US$625mn.

“The named defendants may have used those related parties to transfer the purchase proceeds that are the target of Trafigura’s proprietary claims,” Trafigura alleges.

Trafigura says in the filing that “funding constraints” have hindered the ability of some of the defendants in the English claim, including Gupta, to “progress” the disclosure process but that some additional funding may have been received since December last year.

Trafigura declined to comment. Prateek Gupta did not respond to an emailed request for comment from GTR.