The former boss of a collapsed Lincolnshire oil refinery has been accused of overseeing a $236m (£177m) fraud.

Glencore claims Winston Soosaipillai, the former owner of Prax refinery, was “centrally involved in the fraudulent conduct” that resulted in the FTSE 100 commodity giant losing millions of pounds worth of oil.

In submissions to the High Court, Glencore said it was “induced by fraudulent misrepresentations” into delivering more than $236m worth of oil to Prax’s Lindsey oil refinery near Grimsby before it collapsed in June last year.

The company says it was misled about Prax’s financial position, including claims that the oil refinery was solvent and able to pay its debts.

The submissions to the High Court said: “Prior to the liquidation, Mr Soosaipillai was, in fact, conducting the business of the Prax Group ... fraudulently.”

Lawyers acting for Glencore said “representations” made to the company “were untrue and misleading”. They claimed that Mr Soosaipillai “knew this”.

Glencore is now seeking to recover any of the crude oil that is still being held by Prax and seize any refined products that were produced from the crude it delivered to the refinery.

The Anglo-Swiss company argued that it continued to own the crude oil while it was being processed by Prax’s Lindsey oil refinery. It says Mr Soosaipillai’s misrepresentations voided Prax’s contracts, meaning it should be able to recover its product.

Prax collapsed suddenly last year with more than £1.5bn worth of debts after “material irregularities” were discovered in a loan facility it had with HSBC. The discovery led to the loan being cancelled, prompting a cash crunch.

In its lawsuit submitted to the High Court, Glencore is seeking to rescind its contracts with Prax to immediately recover its oil before Prax’s assets are carved up and distributed between its other creditors.

Lawyers acting for Prax argued that Glencore should be treated the same as all other creditors. They claimed that allowing Glencore’s request “would be a recipe for chaos and undermine the logic and policy of the collective insolvency process”.

The lawyers for Prax added: “Any fraud that may have taken place would, if demonstrated, be a misfortune that befell all the creditors of the company in common. Glencore has suffered no special hardship that was not suffered by the creditors as a whole.”

Prax was started by Mr Soosaipillai and his wife Arani in 1999. The couple met while studying accounting and finance at the University of Kent, before starting a business together that initially owned petrol stations.

The company acquired the Lindsey oil refinery from French oil giant Total in 2021 as part of a series of debt-fuelled deals which saw it expand into a sprawling £10bn conglomerate with operations worldwide.

Mr Soosaipillai and his wife each own 40pc stakes in Prax directly and own the remaining 20pc of shares through trusts in which they are both trustees.

A representative for Mr Soosaipillai was contacted for comment.