November 1, 2025

Hold your breath! Bankim Brahmbhatt, an Indian-origin CEO of US-based telecom firms Broadband Telecom and Bridgevoice, stands accused of a jaw-dropping $500 million loan fraud. The Wall Street Journal reveals the scandal has rocked BlackRock’s private-credit arm and lenders scrambling to recover big losses. What happened? Brahmbhatt allegedly created fake customer accounts and forged receivables to grab huge loans from American lenders, including HPS Investment Partners — a firm backed by none other than BlackRock, one of the biggest asset managers worldwide. Who is Bankim Brahmbhatt? Interviews show he’s a telecom engineer turned entrepreneur. Starting in 1989 with a push-button phone factory in India, he later expanded into satellite communications, telecom billing, and digital financial platforms under his Bankai Group. His flagship product, MobiFin Elite, serves digital financial services notably across Africa. Once active on LinkedIn, his profile now seems deactivated. So, what’s the fraud about? Reports say HPS started lending to a financing arm linked to Brahmbhatt’s companies in September 2020. By August 2024, loans ballooned to around $430 million, with BNP Paribas also involved. The red flag rose in July 2024 when an HPS staff noticed suspicious emails coming from fake domains imitating real telecom companies. When confronted, Brahmbhatt assured lenders “nothing to worry about” — only to go silent soon after. Investigations by CBIZ accounting and Quinn Emanuel law firms unveiled fake emails and invoices proving receivables were bogus. Even Belgium’s telecom giant BICS confirmed it had no ties with Brahmbhatt’s firms and called it a “confirmed fraud attempt.” Court papers reveal fake contracts going back to 2018 and that pledged assets were secretly moved to offshore accounts in India and Mauritius. Where is Brahmbhatt now? Lenders believe he is in India. When someone visited his NYC offices in July, they found them closed and empty. Meanwhile, US courts handle bankruptcy and civil cases, but his exact location remains a mystery. This stunning episode exposes deep cracks in the lending world. Can the lenders recover their money? The investigation is ongoing, but the golf-course-sized fraud has left BlackRock-backed HPS Investment Partners and BNP Paribas facing massive financial hits. Stay tuned as this drama unfolds!

Read More at Economictimes →

Tags: Bankim Brahmbhatt, Loan fraud, Blackrock, Broadband Telecom, Hps Investment Partners, Us Lawsuit,