Once known for throwing the world’s most lavish wedding, steel magnate Pramod Mittal now stands at the centre of a courtroom scandal, accused of betraying his creditors to secretly enrich his own family.
The High Court in London heard explosive claims this week that Mittal — declared bankrupt with £2.7 billion in debts — diverted £63 million to his wife and children instead of settling what he owed.
At 68, the Mayfair-based tycoon is being sued by Global Steel Holdings, a former company of his, which alleges he and his family fraudulently “siphoned” $180 million from a nearly half-billion-dollar settlement paid by the Nigerian government to a company linked to the Mittal empire.
The court was told that $81 million was transferred directly to his wife Sangeeta, and adult children Vartika (40), Shristi (37), and Divyesh (35)—all of whom reside in London and were once deeply embedded in the family’s corporate web.
“They were not just beneficiaries,” said Graeme Halkerston, counsel for the company’s liquidators. “They were strategically placed ‘yes men and women’ in a fraudulent structure designed to strip assets and dodge responsibility.”
This marks a stunning fall for a man whose daughter’s 2013 wedding cost an estimated £50 million, complete with fireworks, floating stages, and performances in Barcelona’s National Museum.
Now, Global Steel claims the Mittals constructed a web of fake debts and fabricated evidence to keep assets out of creditors’ reach—even using the family patriarch, Mohan Mittal, 98, to front a $200 million repayment in India to shut down a criminal probe.
The court also heard that Mittal’s billionaire brother Lakshmi, head of ArcelorMittal and worth £14.9 billion, may not be financially involved—but that the family could still bankroll the legal battle.
Stephen Ryan, representing Mittal, accused Global Steel of acting with “extreme haste,” saying it was unfair to pursue the tycoon while he remained constrained by bankruptcy.
But the judge wasn’t swayed. “He fights everything,” remarked Deputy Insolvency Judge Daniel Schaffer. “He’s not going to walk away from this.”
Mittal once promised to pay back creditors just 0.18p for every £1 owed—a deal struck through a voluntary agreement that was later torn apart by the courts as a sham, built on “fraudulent purpose.”
As the case continues, so does the unraveling of a family fortune that once dazzled the world.
The court must now decide whether this was a case of clever business gone bad—or a calculated betrayal on a billion-pound scale.
