Bankim Brahmbhatt, the Indian-origin owner of US telecom companies, stands accused of defrauding major lenders out of more than $500 million. Reports suggest he may have gone into hiding, following the discovery of the alleged fraud.
The scandal, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, has significantly impacted the US private credit market, highlighting vulnerabilities in opaque debt sectors. Investigations revealed that Brahmbhatt’s offices in Garden City, New York, were found closed in July. As of Wednesday morning, the office suite appeared vacant, with neighboring businesses reporting no recent activity.
Brahmbhatt’s residence in Garden City also showed signs of abandonment, with mail accumulating outside and multiple luxury vehicles parked in the driveway. Lenders, including BlackRock’s private credit arm HPS Investment Partners and BNP Paribas, have filed a lawsuit accusing Brahmbhatt, who owns Broadband Telecom and Bridgevoice, of fabricating accounts receivable to use as loan collateral. They claim his companies owe them over $500 million.
The fraud came to light in July when an HPS employee identified discrepancies in customer email addresses. Despite assurances from Brahmbhatt that there was no cause for concern, he subsequently stopped responding to phone calls. Internal reviews uncovered that many of the supposed customer email addresses did not correspond to their public web domains.
Brahmbhatt, however, denies the allegations of fraud, as stated by his lawyer to The Wall Street Journal.