Trafigura appoints new battery metals trading heads after nickel fraud - source

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Commodities giant Trafigura Group appointed Mehdi Wetterwald and Daniel von Arx as the new co-heads of its battery metals trading business, just weeks after it said it had been the victim of "systemic fraud" related to nickel cargoes, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.

Wetterwald and von Arx will run the company's global nickel, cobalt and lithium trading operations and report to Gonzalo De Olazaval, one of Trafigura’s two co-heads of metals trading, the source said.

Trafigura declined to comment on the appointments.

Geneva-based Trafigura said this month that it had booked a $577 million charge in the first half of 2023 after discovering that some nickel cargoes it received did not contain the metal.

The commodities trader also said the fraud was committed by a group of companies connected to and controlled by Indian businessman Prateek Gupta, including TMT Metals and companies owned by Gupta's UD Trading Group. (Reporting by Jyoti Narayan and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Josie Kao)