Eleven entities linked to Radiant World have filed a S$2.5 billion lawsuit against three Glencore units in Singapore, escalating a dispute between the commodities trader and its former close business partner. The claim, lodged on September 15, includes trading and affiliated companies in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland, with a first case conference scheduled for October 21. Rakesh Sethi, chairman of Sapphire Minmetals, confirmed the action and said Radiant World and Sapphire Minmetals were combining forces. Glencore said it had ended all business with the companies and exited all obligations after finding evidence of falsified invoices, contracts and emails allegedly sent to financial institutions as purported communications from Glencore personnel. The company called the claims meritless and said it would contest them, while reviewing its historic activities with Radiant World, Sapphire Minmetals and related companies. Glencore has taken a $480 million provision related to its exposure. The companies also face a $499 million worldwide freezing order obtained in London by a fund managed by Jefferies Financial Group, while Singapore-based Incomlend has separately sued Radiant World over allegedly non-genuine Glencore documents used in borrowing. The dispute highlights the risks of document-based financing in commodity trading, where banks and invoice-finance platforms extend credit against transaction paperwork that can be difficult to verify promptly.