Barak Fund Management – Fraud & Corruption Allegations

Jones Smith
4 Min Read

Barak Fund Management is a robust and well-known firm founded by Jean Craven and Prieur du Plessis. With $300,000 investment in 2009, Barak fund started its trade finance fund. It has been in business for a long time. 

Barak Fund knows the ups and downs and the right and wrong of it all. But, ignoring all the work done and the reputation, Barak Fund is currently waiting for a signal to restructure a large trade finance fund, which took place months ago in April.  Suddenly, investors were barred from withdrawing funds from the firm’s flagship fund because a significant portion of its assets proved challenging to value. Barak fund is not new to the business. It has investors all over the country, which means people outside the firm trust them with their money and their future.

The present investment is split among 97 borrowers. More than half of its funds are thought to have a small number of participants and little activity. The firm has set aside $184 million, or around a fifth of its total, for possible losses on liquid and illiquid investments. Investors have also sought permission to hire an unnamed consulting firm with a $300 billion investment to help supervise the process. This case raised questions, and people thought this was just another rumor by someone, but it’s more than that.

The allegations came from someone within the firm, someone who knows what Is cooking inside. Yes, the allegations came from the firm’s employees.  Additionally, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the fund’s prior auditor, departed before the 2019 audit was completed, and the new auditor is still delaying financial statement certification. The most recent case of a trade finance issue is Barak’s investment problem. Greensill Capital, based in London, recently filed for administration after several key investors withdrew due to asset valuation concerns.

These events highlighted a potential liquidity concern with funds that guarantee consistent returns by ambiguously investing in unlisted assets. According to an investor document, Barak has considered raising $250 million for the new firm, which would be called Metrica Fund Management, in collaboration with Pella Resources and Tomahawk Group. Mauritius-based Withdrawals from Barak’s flagship trade-finance fund were halted in April, claiming a lack of markets for many of the loans it has made across Africa.

Prieur du Plessis, Barak’s chief investment officer, was confused because he received cash and car use from a coal sector customer. Barak researched the situation and came up with a solution after notifying Du Press. According to Du Press, the deal included a mortgage payback and collateral.

The fund is currently seeking client approval to restructure it by spinning off illiquid assets into new vehicles. The firm stated that the clients had agreed to this new arrangement, but there is no proof that the investors know it. Agreeing to it is a different matter.  There are numerous cases where Barak has proved its cunning nature, one situation after another. Suppose it keeps on going like this, then it is a matter of months that Barak will start its looting process again and deprive another set of investors of their money. 

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I am Jones Smith and I am here to share my experience and expertise in writing. I've been writing articles for different publications for more than 6 years. I have a varied range of interests and that's why I love blogging about different topics. In my opinion, blogging is a lot like acting, and I consider writing blog posts as an acting job. I am an entrepreneur by heart and there is nothing big or small when it comes to starting a business.