11 Aug 2024,

Hindenburg-Adani Case Live: Congress demands Centre to ‘eliminate all conflicts’

Hindenburg-Adani Case Live: Hindenburg Research’s latest allegations against Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch has garnered political reactions in the country. Congress has asked the Central government to immediately eliminate all conflicts of interest in the regulator’s investigation of the Adani Group.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in an official statement, said the Sebi’s “strange reluctance” to investigate the “Adani mega scam” has been long noted, not least by the Supreme Court’s Expert Committee.

“Under public pressure, after the Adani horse had bolted, SEBI’s board reintroduced stricter reporting rules on 28 June 2023. It told the Supreme Court’s Expert Committee on 25 August 2023 that it was investigating 13 suspicious transactions. Yet the investigations never bore fruit….

…The government must act immediately to eliminate all conflicts of interest in the SEBI investigation of Adani. The fact is that the seeming complicity of the highest officials of the land can only be resolved by setting up a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) to investigate the full scope of the Adani mega scam,” he said.

11 Aug 2024,

Hindenburg-Adani Case Live: Sebi had issued a ‘show cause’ notice to Hindenburg Research in July 2024

Hindenburg-Adani Case Live: In July 2024, US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research said it received a “show cause” notice from India’s securities regulator. Characterizing the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) “show cause” notice as attempted intimidation, Hindenburg wrote that the regulator had made the “nebulous allegation” that Hindenburg’s report contained misrepresentations and inaccurate statements meant to mislead readers.

“In our view, SEBI has neglected its responsibility, seemingly doing more to protect those perpetrating fraud than to protect the investors being victimized by it,” Hindenburg had said.

11 Aug 2024, 

Hindenburg-Adani Case Live: Hindenburg chose to attempt character assassination, says Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch

Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch has denied the allegations levied by the US short-selling Hindenburg Research in its latest report, terming them ‘baseless’ and an attempted ‘character assassination’.

“In the context of allegations made in the Hindenburg Report dated August 10, 2024 against us, we would like to state that we strongly deny the baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report. The same are devoid of any truth. Our life and finances are an open book. All disclosures as required have already been furnished to SEBI over the years. We have no hesitation in disclosing any and all financial documents, including those that relate to the period when we were strictly private citizens, to any and every authority that may seek them. Further, in the interest of complete transparency, we would be issuing a detailed statement in due course.

It is unfortunate that Hindenburg Research against whom SEBI has taken an Enforcement action and issued a show cause notice has chosen to attempt character assassination in response to the same,” a press statement by Sebi Chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch said.

11 Aug 2024, 12:42:34 AM IST

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: Hindenburg alleges SEBI has taken no action against Adani shareholders

Hindenburg said in its report today, ‘’We suspect SEBI’s unwillingness to take meaningful action against suspect offshore shareholders in the Adani Group may stem from Chairperson Madhabi Buch’s complicity in using the exact same funds used by Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani.”

‘’To date, Sebi has taken no action against other suspect adani shareholders operated by India infoline: EM resurgent fund and emerging India focus funds. In our original report, we identified, among other funds, two Mauritius entities called EM Resurgent Fund and Emerging India Focus Funds. Both entities were disclosed as related parties of India Infoline (now called 360 One) and overseen by its employees, per its annual reports,” said the US short-seller.

‘’We noted that “the trading patterns [of these funds] suggest that the stock parking entities and the suspicious offshore entities may have artificially inflated the volume and/or price of some Adani listed companies,” said Hindenburg.

11 Aug 2024, 

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: Hindenburg says it finds its ‘unsurprising’ that SEBI was reluctant to follow a trail

Hindenburg said in its report, ‘’The Supreme Court said that SEBI had “drawn a blank” in its investigations into who funded Adani’s offshore shareholders. If Sebi really wanted to find the offshore fund holders, perhaps the Sebi chairperson could have started by looking in the mirror. We find it unsurprising that Sebi was reluctant to follow a trail that may have led to its own chairperson,” said Hindenburg.

‘’In response to requests from the Indian Supreme Court to investigate the Adani matter, SEBI was said to have a hit a wall unveiling the holders of the offshore funds. The Supreme Court said that while SEBI seemingly agreed with our concerns over who funded Adani’s offshore shareholders, “it is evident that SEBI has drawn a blank in this investigation,” added the US short-seller.

11 Aug 2024, 

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: US short-seller digs out whistleblower documents

Hindenburg said in its report, ‘’In a later account statement dated February 26th, 2018, addressed to Madhabi Buch’s private email, the full details of the structure are revealed: “GDOF Cell 90 (IPEplus Fund 1)”. Again, this is the exact same Mauritius-registered “cell” of the fund, found several layers deep in a convoluted structure, reportedly used by Vinod Adani. The total value of Buch’s stake was worth $872,762.25 at the time.”

‘’Later, on February 25th, 2018, during Buch’s tenure as a Whole-Time Member of SEBI, whistleblower documents show she personally wrote to India Infoline using her private Gmail account, doing business through her husband’s name, to redeem the units in the fund.

In brief, despite the existence of thousands of mainstream, reputable onshore Indian mutual fund products, an industry she now is responsible for regulating, documents show SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband had stakes in a multi-layered offshore fund structure with miniscule assets, traversing known high-risk jurisdictions, overseen by a company with reported ties to the Wirecard scandal, in the same entity run by an Adani director and significantly used by Vinod Adani in the alleged Adani cash siphoning scandal,” added the US short-seller.

11 Aug 2024, 

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: Hindenburg reveals net worth of SEBI chairperson, husband

Hindenburg said in its report, ‘’Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch first appear to have opened their account with IPE Plus Fund 1 on June 5th, 2015 in Singapore, per whistleblower documents.

A declaration of funds, signed by a principal at IIFL states that the source of the investment is “salary” and the couple´s net worth is estimated at $10 million. Madhabi Buch was appointed a “Whole Time Member” of SEBI in April 2017, according to her LinkedIn profile.”

‘’On March 22nd, 2017, just weeks ahead of that appointment, Madhabi’s husband, Dhaval Buch, wrote to Mauritius fund administrator Trident Trust, according to documents we received from a whistleblower. The email was regarding his and his wife’s investment in the Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund .

In the letter, Dhaval Buch requested to “be the sole person authorised to operate the Accounts”, seemingly moving the assets out of his wife’s name ahead of the politically sensitive appointment,” said Hindenburg in its report.

11 Aug 2024, 12:22:22 AM IST

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates:  Hindenburg quotes Adani Watch in report

Hindenburg added in its report ‘’Sitting below GDOF in the multi-layer structure (two layers below the Global Opportunities Fund), is the IPE Plus fund, a small and obscure offshore fund registered in Mauritius. The IPE Plus Fund had only U.S. $38.43 million in assets under management (AUM) at the end of December 2017, per IIFL disclosures.”

‘’AdaniWatch reported that “by March 2017, ATIL, a Vinod Adani company, had a total balance of $40.38 million with GDOF”. Thus, while we are unable to see the total assets of parent fund GDOF, it appears a significant portion of the assets of the funds may be comprised of Adani money.

Beyond being used as an alleged funnel for Vinod Adani’s money, the tiny fund had other close ties to Adani. The Founder and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the IPE Plus Fund was Anil Ahuja, per his biography. At the same time, Ahuja was a director of Adani Enterprises where he served three terms spanning nine years ending in June 2017, per his biography and exchange disclosures. Prior to that he was a director of Adani Power,” said Hindenburg in its report.

11 Aug 2024, 12:16:45 AM IST

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: Hindenburg report accusing Adani Group

Hindenburg said in its report today, ‘’A separate investigation by the Financial Times showed that the parent fund of GDOF – the Bermuda-based Global Opportunities Fund (“GOF”) – was used by two Adani associates “to amass and trade large positions in shares of the Adani Group”.

These nested funds are managed by Indian Infoline (“IIFL”), now called 360 One per private fund data and IIFL’s marketing material. 

IIFL, is a publicly listed wealth management firm in India which has a long history in setting up convoluted fund structures and with previous ties to the Wirecard scandal, Germany’s largest ever fraud case. IIFL Wealth was alleged to have committed fraud in a takeover deal involving Wirecard, using a Mauritius fund structure, per a lawsuit in UK courts.”

11 Aug 2024, 12:03:16 AM IST

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: Hindenburg-Adani Case: Who is Dhaval Buch, mentioned with SEBI chairperson in US short-seller’s report?

Hindenbrug Research has accused SEBI chairperson and her husband Dhaval Buch in its report. Dhaval Buch’s LinkedIn profile mentions he is a Senior Advisor at Blackstone and Alvarez & Marsal. Buch has been working with Blackstone since July 2019. “Blackstone has been one of the largest investors and sponsors of REITS, a Nascent Asset class in India”, HIndenburg report says.

10 Aug 2024, 11:57:06 PM IST

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: Hindenburg’s allegations against Adani Group

‘’As detailed in our original Adani report, documents from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) alleged that Adani “grossly” overvalued the import valuation of key power equipment, using offshore shell entities to siphon and launder money from the Indian public,” said Hindenburg in its report.

‘’A subsequent investigation by non-profit project Adani Watch in December 2023 showed how a web of offshore entities, controlled by Gautam Adani’s brother, Vinod Adani, were recipients of funds from the alleged over-invoicing of power equipment.

In one complex structure, a Vinod Adani controlled company had invested in “Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund” in Bermuda, a British overseas territory and tax haven, which then invested in IPE Plus Fund 1, a fund registered in Mauritius, another tax haven,” said Hindenburg

10 Aug 2024, 11:46:06 PM IST

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: Background of Adani scandal

“IPE plus fund” is a small offshore auritius fund set up by an Adani director through India Infoline (IIFL), a wealth management firm with ties to the wirecard scandal,”said Hindenburg.

‘’Vinod Adani – brother of Gautam Adani – used this structure to invest in indian markets with funds allegedly siphoned from over invoicing of power equipment to the Adani group,” added the US short-seller.

10 Aug 2024, 11:38:21 PM IST

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: India’s supreme court drew a blank on the scandal, claims Hindenburg

‘’The Indian Supreme Court said that SEBI had drawn a blank in its investigation of these shareholders, as detailed in the court records. In late June 2024, Adani CFO Jugeshinder Singh described some regulator notices aimed towards Adani Group as “trivial”, apparently writing off the prospect of their severity even before the process was concluded,” said Hindenburg in its report today.

10 Aug 2024, 11:29:34 PM IST

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: Hindenburg claims to receive legal notice 

Hindenburg claims in its report, ‘’Instead, on June 27th, 2024, SEBI sent us an apparent ‘show cause’ notice. SEBI did not allege any factual errors in our 106-page analysis, but instead claimed the disclosure around our short position– which we disclosed repeatedly– was deficient, arguing that we should have provided even more robust disclosure.

The SEBI notice also claimed our report was “reckless” for quoting a banned broker with specific experience dealing with SEBI who detailed how the regulator was fully aware that firms like Adani used complex offshore entities to flout rules, and that the regulator participated in the schemes.

In our July 2024 response to the ‘show cause’ notice, we wrote that we found it odd how SEBI—a regulator specifically set up to prevent fraudulent practices – showed little interest in meaningfully pursuing the parties that ran a secret offshore shell empire engaging in billions of dollars of undisclosed related party transactions through public companies while propping up its stocks through a network of sham investment entities.”

10 Aug 2024, 11:09:53 PM IST

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: Hindenburg alleges ‘SEBI showed surprising lack of interest in Adani scandal

In its report, Hindenburg said, ‘’It has been nearly 18 months since our original report on the Adani Group presented overwhelming evidence that the Indian conglomerate was operating “the largest con in corporate history”. Our report exposed a web of offshore, primarily Mauritius-based shell entities used for suspected billions of dollars of undisclosed related party transactions, undisclosed investment and stock manipulation.”

‘’Since then, despite the evidence, along with over 40 independent media investigations corroborating and expanding on our original work, Indian securities regulator SEBI has taken no public action against the Adani Group. Media has reported that SEBI is likely to impose mere token, technical violations on the Adani Group despite the breadth and magnitude of the issues,” added Hindenburg in its report.

10 Aug 2024, 10:48:27 PM IST

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: ‘SEBI Chairperson had stake in obscure offshore funds’, alleges Hindenburg

Hindenburg-Adani case LIVE updates: The Hindenburg report published on 10 August claimed that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband had stakes in both obscure offshore funds used in the ‘Adani money siphoning scandal’

“The current SEBI Chairperson and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had hidden stakes in the exact same obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, found in the same complex nested structure, used by Vinod Adani.” the Hindenburg report reads