Hindenburg targets SEBI chief over alleged conflicts of interest in Adani case

Guwahati, August 11: Indian business mogul Gautam Adani's troubles seem far from over as US short-seller Hindenburg Research raised fresh concerns on Saturday, questioning Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chief Madhabi Puri Buch's alleged “lack of interest” in investigating Adani’s undisclosed web of Mauritius and offshore shell entities.

Hindenburg attributed this alleged oversight to potential financial interests that Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, might have in acquiescing to Adani's directives.

Citing whistleblower documents, Hindenburg alleged that Buch and her husband held stakes in an offshore fund where a significant amount of money was invested by associates of Vinod Adani, Gautam Adani’s brother and a key figure in the Adani Group.

Both Madhabi and her husband have vehemently denied these claims, while the Adani Group issued an official statement on Sunday, rejecting Hindenburg's allegations as "discredited claims" that they "completely reject."

A statement from the conglomerate described Hindenburg's assertions as "no more than red herrings thrown by a desperate entity with total contempt for Indian laws."

"We completely reject these allegations against the Adani Group, which are a recycling of discredited claims that have been thoroughly investigated, proven to be baseless, and already dismissed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in January 2024," the statement read.

This latest development follows the initial Hindenburg report released on January 25, 2023, which accused the Adani Group of financial misconduct, stock manipulation, and accounting fraud spanning decades.

The report led to a significant drop in Adani Enterprises' share value, causing major losses for the company just days before it was set to launch a Rs. 20,000 crore follow-on public offer (PFO).

The Supreme Court of India had intervened, directing SEBI to investigate the allegations made in the Hindenburg report and setting up a panel to protect Indian investors after the Adani Group lost over $100 million in market valuation. SEBI was given until August 14, 2023, to produce its investigative report.

Despite the ongoing controversy, the Supreme Court had rejected a plea for an independent investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in January 2024, reaffirming that SEBI had sole jurisdiction over the case.

In June 2024, SEBI accused Hindenburg Research of sharing its findings with a hedge-fund manager in New York, enabling insider trading. Hindenburg dismissed these findings, claiming they were aimed at silencing the research firm.

The Adani-Hindenburg row has also fuelled a political storm, with Congress and opposition parties demanding the elimination of all conflicts of interest in the case and calling for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe.