Swiss bank BCP alleges fraud in oil deal between ZenRock and China Aviation

BCP issued a letter of credit to finance its purchase of about 260,000 barrels of gasoil from CAO.

Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA, DIFC Branch, has sued China Aviation Oil (Singapore) over an alleged fraudulent deal as the Swiss bank seeks to reclaim the $25.91m ($19m) it paid to CAO for a cargo, a court document showed.

In a writ of summons filed to the Singapore High Court, BCP said it issued a letter of credit in January on behalf of ZenRock Commodities Trading to finance its purchase of about 260,000 barrels of gasoil from CAO.

CAO is the largest jet fuel trader in Asia and is majority owned by a Chinese state-owned company.

Singapore-based ZenRock had intended to sell the cargo to PetroChina International (East China), BCP said.

ZenRock was placed under interim judicial management (IJM) in May after one of its creditors HSBC alleged that it engaged in a series of “highly dishonest transactions”.

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