Sanjeev Gupta and Greensill ‘milked Covid loan scheme’

Steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta and collapsed lender Greensill Capital have been accused of using a taxpayer-backed Covid support scheme to borrow eight times the maximum allowed.

Companies in Gupta’s GFG Empire and others with links to him received eight loans worth £50m each from the Government’s coronavirus large business interruption loan scheme (CLBILS), according to The Sunday Times. 

Claims: Companies in Gupta’s GFG Empire and others with links to him received eight loans worth £50m each from the CLBILS, according to reports

The £400m of loans were arranged through Greensill, which called in administrators last Monday. 

Under the scheme, 80 per cent of their value was guaranteed by taxpayers. 

But the Government’s British Business Bank (BBB), which oversees CLBILS, withdrew the guarantee after concluding that Greensill broke the scheme’s rules. 

These say a corporate group can only borrow £50m if it uses supplier financing. Greensill is challenging the BBB’s withdrawal of the guarantee and claims its borrowings were approved.