Key Points:
- Indian-origin telecom executive Bankim Brahmbhatt accused of orchestrating $500+ million loan fraud against BlackRock’s HPS Investment Partners and other major lenders
- Alleged fraud involved fabricating invoices, fake customer accounts, and falsified receivables dating back to 2018 to secure massive loans
- Independent investigations by CBIZ and Quinn Emanuel revealed all customer emails provided over two years were fraudulent
- Brahmbhatt’s companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2025; his current whereabouts unknown, believed to be in India
- BNP Paribas financed nearly half of the loans and added €190 million ($220 million) in loan-loss provisions linked to the case
- Belgian telecom firm BICS confirmed fraud attempt, stating it had no connection to transactions linked to Brahmbhatt’s firms
New Delhi: Bankim Brahmbhatt, the Indian-origin CEO of US-based telecom companies Broadband Telecom and Bridgevoice, stands accused of perpetrating what lenders have described as a “breathtaking” financial fraud that has left global investment giant BlackRock and other major financial institutions scrambling to recover more than $500 million. The Wall Street Journal’s exclusive investigation, published on October 30, 2025, has sent shockwaves through the private credit industry, exposing one of the largest loan fraud schemes in recent memory.
The Elaborate Fraud Scheme
The alleged fraud came to light in July 2024 when an HPS Investment Partners employee noticed suspicious irregularities in customer emails that appeared to originate from fake domains designed to resemble legitimate telecom firms. When questioned about these discrepancies, Brahmbhatt reportedly assured HPS officials there was “nothing to worry about,” but soon after ceased all communication with the lenders. This sudden silence triggered alarm bells and prompted comprehensive investigations that would uncover the full extent of the alleged deception.
According to court documents filed in August 2025, lenders, including BlackRock’s HPS Investment Partner, have accused Brahmbhatt of fabricating invoices and accounts receivable that were pledged as collateral for massive loans. The lawsuit alleges that Brahmbhatt’s network of companies, including financing vehicles Carriox Capital II and BB Capital SPV, created an elaborate illusion of financial health on paper while systematically transferring money offshore to India and Mauritius.
Investigation Findings Expose Systematic Deception
Independent investigations conducted by accounting firm CBIZ and prominent law firm Quinn Emanuel, appointed by the lenders, revealed the staggering scope of the fraud. Their findings were damning: every single customer email provided by Brahmbhatt’s firms to verify invoices over the past two years was fraudulent, and falsified customer contracts dated back as far as 2018. The investigators discovered that Brahmbhatt had created fake customer accounts with forged email addresses that didn’t match clients’ publicly available domains.
A particularly revealing example involved BICS, a Belgian telecommunications company, which explicitly denied any connection to the communications or transactions linked to Brahmbhatt’s firms. In a July 18, 2025, email to Quinn Emanuel attorneys, a BICS security officer wrote: “This is indeed a confirmed attempt at fraud”. The lenders’ lawyers stated in their complaint that “Brahmbhatt created an elaborate balance sheet of assets that existed only on paper” and accused him of transferring pledged assets to offshore accounts.
Financial Timeline and Exposure
The fraudulent scheme’s roots trace back to September 2020, when HPS Investment Partners, which was later acquired by BlackRock in a $12 billion deal completed in June 2025, first extended credit to a financing arm linked to Brahmbhatt’s telecom businesses. Over the following years, HPS’s exposure steadily increased, growing from approximately $385 million by early 2021 to around $430 million by August 2024. French multinational bank BNP Paribas, which financed nearly half of the loans to Brahmbhatt-linked companies, reported adding €190 million (approximately $220 million) in loan-loss provisions for a “specific credit situation,” though it declined to officially name the borrower.
Who is Bankim Brahmbhatt?
Bankim Brahmbhatt is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Bankai Group, a US-headquartered telecom and fintech conglomerate with operations spanning multiple countries. According to his past interviews with Entrepreneur Middle East and Industry Chronicle, Brahmbhatt described himself as a “telecom engineer” who launched his entrepreneurial journey in 1989 with a push-button telephone manufacturing unit in India. Over the course of three decades, his business empire expanded into satellite communication, subnetworks, billing systems, and digital financial solutions, with his flagship product, MobiFin Elite, providing digital financial services across several African nations.
His companies, Broadband Telecom and Bridgevoice, under the Bankai Group umbrella, claimed to provide infrastructure, interconnectivity, and technology services to telecom operators worldwide. Brahmbhatt reportedly attended St Xavier’s School in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, though little else is known about his educational background. He was even featured in Capacity’s Power 100 List of 2023 for his contributions to the telecommunications industry. However, following the fraud allegations, his LinkedIn profile and other online profiles have been deleted or deactivated.
Current Status and Legal Proceedings
Brahmbhatt filed for personal bankruptcy on August 12, 2025, the same day his telecom companies Broadband Telecom, Bridgevoice, Carriox Capital II, and BB Capital SPV sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code generally provides for reorganization, allowing corporations to keep their business alive while paying creditors over time.
His current whereabouts remain a mystery that has confounded investigators and lenders alike. When HPS officials visited his office suite in Garden City, New York, in July 2025, they found it locked and seemingly vacant. At his listed residence in Garden City, an affluent Long Island suburb, two BMWs, a Porsche, a Tesla, and an Audi were found parked in the driveway, collecting dust, with unopened mail and packages at the door. HPS Investment Partners has informed clients that it believes Brahmbhatt has left the United States and is currently in India.
Legal Defense and Industry Impact
Brahmbhatt has denied all allegations of fraud through his lawyer, who maintains that the claims are unfounded. Despite the serious nature and scale of the alleged fraud, sources told the Wall Street Journal that the incident represents only a small portion of HPS’s $179 billion in assets under management and is unlikely to materially affect BlackRock’s overall performance. However, the case has intensified scrutiny around asset-based finance practices and raised questions about due diligence procedures in the private credit industry.
The soured deal represents a significant setback for HPS Investment Partners and has prompted concerns about vulnerabilities in current lending systems, particularly regarding the verification of collateralized loans and customer data. As bankruptcy proceedings and civil lawsuits continue in US courts, the full scope of the alleged fraud and its potential ramifications for the private credit sector remain under investigation.
