The couple behind a collapsed refinery paid themselves a $5m (£3.65m) dividend from their oil empire last year despite the company posting almost $30m worth of losses.

Sanjeev Kumar and Arani Soosaipillai were handed the money as owners of Prax Group, the company behind the Lindsey Oil Refinery, in Lincolnshire.

The refinery collapsed on Monday, with the Government’s Insolvency Service forced to step in to maintain continued operations.

The dividend was paid at group level, rather than by the immediate refinery business. The group made a loss of $28.6m in 2024, with bosses admitting operations had been “challenging”.

The payout is likely to be the subject of scrutiny as ministers seek answers about how a key part of Britain’s energy infrastructure was allowed to collapse.

Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, wrote to the Insolvency Service on Monday to “demand an immediate investigation into the conduct of the directors, and the circumstances surrounding this insolvency”.

Michael Shanks, the energy minister, also made a direct appeal to Prax’s owners.

He said: “The Government believes that the business’s leadership have a responsibility to the workers and the local community. We call on them to do the right thing and support the workers through this difficult period.”

Debt-fuelled deals

Inquiries will thrust the husband-and-wife duo behind Lindsey into the spotlight.

Mr and Mrs Soosaipillai launched Prax from a flat in Weybridge 26 years ago after both studying accountancy at Kent University.

They have grown it into a sprawling $10bn conglomerate that operates around the world. Having originally started operations by acquiring petrol stations, Prax later expanded the business by moving into oil storage terminals.

A spree of debt-fuelled deals followed, including the takeover of UK fuel supplier Harvest Energy in 2015. Prax acquired the Lindsey Oil Refinery from France’s Total in 2021.

Sanjeev remains chairman and chief executive of the Prax business, while Mrs Soosaipillai is the chief human resources officer.

Company filings list the pair as ultimate owners of the business, each with a 40pc stake. The remaining 20pc is held in trusts, of which they are both trustees.

Neither Mr or Mrs Soosaipillai have conducted any media interviews and information about them is limited to small official biographies on the Prax website.

While little is known of the pair, it was previously reported that they lived in a £4.5m mansion on St George’s Hill, a luxury estate in Surrey.

It is understood that the Government has struggled to wrangle information from the company in recent months, leaving officials blind-sided by the insolvency on Monday. The Government’s investigation will seek to determine the nature of the collapse.

Following Monday’s announcement, Mr Shanks said: “There have been longstanding issues with this company and workers have been badly let down.”

Teneo, which is overseeing the company’s insolvency, was contacted for comment.