The auditor for several of Sanjeev Gupta’s group of companies has resigned from at least five of them.
London-based King & King is under investigation by the Financial Reporting Council for its audits of four GFG Alliance businesses.
This follows the Serious Fraud Office announcing in May 2021 that it was investigating GFG for suspected fraud and money laundering, soon after the collapse of its main financial backer, Greensill Capital.
The companies that reported auditor resignations on Thursday included Liberty Speciality Steels, Speciality Steel UK, and Liberty Steel Dalzell; the latter of which is in charge of the plant near Motherwell.
The Financial Times first reported that King & King had begun resigning from GFG firms.
A GFG Alliance spokesperson said: “We have parted company with King & King due to overall issues resulting from the collapse of Greensill Capital. We are in the process of appointing new auditors - there is no impact on the operations of any of our businesses.”
None of the companies have published annual accounts since those for the year ending on 31 March 2019.
Not filing an annual report is a criminal offence, although the maximum financial penalty for late filing is only £1,500 for a private company.
Gupta is listed as the director of 77 active companies on Companies House. Accounts for at least 31 of those were overdue.
King & King has not yet responded to requests for comment.
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