The tweet further read: “Prosecutors detailed how an Adani frontman invested in opaque BVI/Mauritius & Bermuda funds that almost exclusively owned Adani stocks, according to newly released Swiss criminal court records reported by Swiss media outlet.”
Trouble continues to mount for the Adani group as US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research levelled a fresh set of allegations on Thursday.
Quoting a swiss media report, Hindenburg said: Swiss authorities have frozen more than $310 million in funds across six Swiss bank accounts as part of an investigation into allegations of money laundering linked to the Adani Group.
On Thursday night, Hindeburg research on its X account posted: “Swiss authorities have frozen more than $310 million in funds across multiple Swiss bank accounts as part of a money laundering and securities forgery investigation into Adani, dating back as early as 2021.”
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The tweet further read: “Prosecutors detailed how an Adani frontman invested in opaque BVI/Mauritius & Bermuda funds that almost exclusively owned Adani stocks, according to newly released Swiss criminal court records reported by Swiss media outlet.”
Swiss authorities have frozen more than $310 million in funds across multiple Swiss bank accounts as part of a money laundering and securities forgery investigation into Adani, dating back as early as 2021.
Prosecutors detailed how an Adani frontman invested in opaque…
— Hindenburg Research (@HindenburgRes) September 12, 2024
Reacting to the allegations, the Adani group has said: “We unequivocally reject and deny the baseless allegations presented. The Adani Group has no involvement in any Swiss court proceedings, nor have any of our company accounts been subject to sequestration by any authority,” the Adani Group said in a statement.
The group further said: “Even in the alleged order, the Swiss court has neither mentioned our group companies, nor have we received any requests for clarification or information from any such authority or regulatory body.
We reiterate that our overseas holding structure is transparent, fully disclosed, and compliant with all relevant laws,” the Adani Group said in a statement issued slightly past midnight today.
How the share market reacted to the claims: According to an India Today report, the Adani Group shares fell by up to 2% in early trading on Friday. And the Adani group shares were trading in the red.
Earlier in 2023, the Hindenburg research had accused the Adani Group of using tax havens to avoid market regulations.
Meanwhile, TMC MP Mahua Moitra has filed a complaint before the anti-corruption authority Lokpal against SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch over allegations of misconduct and financial irregularities linked to the Adani group.
The Hindenburg group first made the allegations, and subsequently, Congress levelled a fresh set of claims.
In August, Hindenburg Research alleged that it suspected SEBI’s unwillingness to act against the Adani Group, possibly because its head, Madhabi Puri Buch, had stakes in offshore funds linked to the conglomerate.
The SEBI chief is accused of having a conflict of interest and misconduct for not refusing to deal with complaints against the Adani group.
Buch had issued statements refuting the allegations. On September 10, Congress accused SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch of wilful concealment. The party said contrary to Buch’s claim that an advisory company she owned became dormant when she took office, Agora Advisory continued to provide services and generated revenue of ₹2.95 crore between 2016 and 2024.
The party claimed that Buch, appointed SEBI chief in March 2022, owned 99% of Agora Advisory as of March 31, 2024.The party added that Sembcorp, Visu Leasing and Finance, Pidilite, Mahindra and Mahindra, Dr Reddy, and ICICI Bank were clients of Agora Advisory.
The Congress said Section 5 of SEBI’s code on conflict of interest has been violated.
It added that 88% of the ₹2.95 crore received by Agora Advisory came from Mahindra.
The SEBI chief’s husband, Dhaval Buch, received ₹4.78 crore between 2019 and 2021 from Mahindra & Mahindra and violated Section 11 of SEBI, the party claimed.
Responding to the allegations Dhaval and Madhavi Buch issued a joint statement: “In keeping with the highest standards of governance, Madhabi has never dealt with any file involving Agora Advisory, Agora Partners, the Mahindra Group, Pidilite, Dr Reddy’s, Alvarez and Marsal, Sembcorp, Visu Leasing or ICICI Bank at any stage after her joining SEBI.
As evident from the above facts and the communications from the companies, the allegations are completely false, malicious and defamatory.”
The statement further read: “Madhabi has complied with all the disclosure and recusal guidelines of SEBI and maintained a proactive continuing recusal list with SEBI over and above the requirements under the guidelines.
Over and above all of the aforesaid, right from 2017, when Madhabi joined SEBI as a Whole Time Member, she had disclosed the fact of her shareholding in Agora Advisory as well as in Agora Partners.”
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, on his X account, has today posted a message saying: Explosive new revelations in the SEBI scandal, breaking soon, Clearly, the story is far from over, and we haven’t seen the last of the SEBI Saga.
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