New Delhi. Terming the latest allegations by US research and investment firm Hindenburg Research as malicious and selectively manipulating public information, the Adani Group on Sunday said it has no commercial relationship with market regulator Sebi chairperson or her husband.
Adani Group said in a notice to the stock exchange, “Hindenburg’s new allegations are a malicious, mischievous and manipulative selection of publicly available information. This has been done with the intention of reaching pre-determined conclusions for personal profiteering in disregard of facts and law.” The group said, “We completely reject these allegations against the Adani Group. These are repetitions of rejected claims that have been thoroughly investigated, proven baseless and have already been rejected by the Supreme Court in January 2024.” Hindenburg said in a blogpost released on Saturday night that SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband invested in foreign entities that were allegedly part of a fund managed by India Infoline and Vinod Adani, the elder brother of Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, also invested in it.
According to Hindenburg, these investments by the Buch couple date back to 2015, well before Madhavi’s appointment as a full-time member of SEBI in 2017 and her elevation as chairperson in March 2022. The US investment firm said that the Bermuda-based Global Opportunities Fund was also among the investors in this fund. The Global Opportunities Fund was allegedly used by entities linked to the Adani Group to trade in shares of group companies.
Citing ‘whistleblower documents’, the investment firm said, “Sebi’s current chief Buch and her husband had stakes in both the shadowy ‘offshore funds’ used in the money laundering scam at the Adani Group.” Funds that invest in foreign markets are called offshore funds or foreign funds. Hindenburg has claimed that SEBI has not shown surprising interest in the alleged shadowy web of Mauritius and foreign fake units of the Adani Group.
Responding to these allegations, the Adani Group said in a regulatory notice, “We reiterate that our foreign holding structure is completely transparent, with all relevant details regularly disclosed in several public documents.” It said that Anil Ahuja was a nominee director of Three-I Investment Fund in Adani Power (2007-2008) and later was a director of Adani Enterprises till 2017.
The group said, “We have no business dealings with the persons or matters mentioned in this deliberate attempt to malign our reputation. We are firmly committed to transparency and compliance with all legal and regulatory provisions.” At the same time, the Adani Group described Hindenburg as ‘a notorious short-seller under investigation for several violations of Indian securities laws’ and said, “Hindenburg’s allegations are nothing more than the blunders of a desperate entity with complete contempt for Indian laws.”