Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Mr. Gupta started a metals trading business in the 1990s while a student at Cambridge University. In 2015 it turned to production, embarking on a spree to buy steel and other metal factories in Britain, and later in countries like Romania, France and the United States. United States. Because some of these facilities were in trouble, Mr Gupta was hailed as a savior of the steel industry in Britain.

Greensill’s loss of funding posed a serious threat to Mr. Gupta’s businesses, which employ around 35,000 people, including 5,000 in Britain. He tried to find new funding to save these companies, but the disclosure of a high-level fraud investigation could complicate those efforts.

The UK government has rejected a request for £ 170million (around $ 240million) to support Gupta businesses, citing their “Opaque accounting”, according to another parliamentary committee investigating companies and the British steel industry.

A spokesperson for Gupta companies said the group “will fully cooperate” with the Serious Fraud Office investigation and that the group “is making progress in refinancing its operations.”

A Greensill spokesperson declined to comment on the Serious Fraud Office announcement.

While Greensill and Gupta had interests across the globe, some of the strongest repercussions of the Greensill collapse were in Britain, where the former Prime Minister David cameron was a senior advisor to the financial company.

Mr Cameron has faced fierce criticism for his lobbying of senior politicians and officials on Greensill’s behalf, often using emails and WhatsApp messages to launch appeals to top ministers, including Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr Cameron said he should have used more formal means of communication.

In a video appearance Thursday before the parliamentary committee investigating the Greensill collapse, Mr Cameron appeared to show little contrition despite strong criticism from lawmakers, one of whom called his dozens of approaches the government figures of “more harassment than lobbying”.