An Indian citizen, Bankim Brahmbhatt, has been accused of defrauding BlackRock and BNP Paribas out of $552.6 million to finance a fictitious private equity fund named Carriox Capital. Brahmbhatt operated Carriox Capital, a telecom financing firm based in New York, which secured loans from BlackRock"s HPS Investment Partners and BNP Paribas by claiming to have legitimate receivables from major telecom companies including T-Mobile, Telstra, BICS, Telecom Italia Sparkle, and Taiwan Mobile.
According to reports, Brahmbhatt forged contracts purportedly signed by representatives of these carriers and created fake invoices claiming that these companies owed money to Carriox. He also spoofed email addresses to send fraudulent verification emails, making the receivables appear legitimate. This deception led to the lenders funding the deal without detecting the fraud.
The situation escalated when HPS and BNP Paribas attempted to verify the receivables by contacting T-Mobile, only to find that no contracts or invoices existed. This oversight raised questions about the due diligence practices of these institutional lenders.
In addition to fabricating collateral, Brahmbhatt"s associates reportedly diverted cash payments from lender-controlled accounts offshore instead of applying them to the debt. Following these revelations, lenders filed a lawsuit in August 2025, leading to a freeze on all assets. Carriox subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, reporting liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion with virtually no assets remaining.
BlackRock, which acquired HPS for $12 billion in July 2025 to expand its private credit operations, is now facing a loss of $552.6 million due to this fraud. The incident raises significant concerns regarding the ability of major asset managers to verify complex collateral in modern lending markets.
