Adani Group denies commercial relationship with SEBI chief; calls Hindenburg report 'a red herring'

Billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Group has rejected the latest reports by U.S. short seller Hindenburg Research which alleged SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch have stakes in "obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal".

Responding to Hindenburg's latest allegations, the Gujarat-based conglomerate termed them as “malicious, “mischievous” and “manipulative”. “The latest allegations by Hindenburg are malicious, mischievous and manipulative selections of publicly available information to arrive at pre-determined conclusions for personal profiteering with wanton disregard for facts and the law,” Adani Enterprises says in an exchange filing this morning.

“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,”says Adani Group spokesperson.

The release further adds, “The Adani Group has absolutely no commercial relationship with the individuals or matters mentioned in this calculated deliberate effort to malign our standing. We remain steadfastly committed to transparency and compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements.”

“For a discredited short-seller under the scanner for several violations of Indian securities laws, Hindenburg's allegations are no more than red herrings thrown by a desperate entity with total contempt for Indian laws,” the release read.

Hindenburg Research, which released an adverse report against Adani Group in January last year, has claimed in a fresh report that the chairperson of India’s stock market regulator, in charge of probing Adani-Hindenburg case, and her spouse had a stake in offshore funds that were invested in the Adani Group.

"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," says Hindenburg in its report titled "Whistleblower Documents Reveal SEBI’s Chairperson Had Stake In Obscure Offshore Entities Used In Adani Money Siphoning Scandal".

Meanwhile, SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch in a joint statement clarified that the allegations levelled against them by the U.S. short-seller are an attempt to 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,” Puri and her husband say in a joint statement.

“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,” the statement read.

“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,” Buch says in her statement.