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The OCCRP group made new allegations today, claiming that the Adani Group channelled millions of dollars into publicly traded stocks through "opaque" Mauritius funds, causing Adani stocks to reel.
Adani Enterprises plummeted over 3%, and Adani Ports experienced a 2% decline on Thursday morning. Concerns of obscured financial dealings cast uncertainty on the conglomerate's future, and these accusations are responsible for it.
It said, "The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) probed allegations of over invoicing, transfer of funds abroad, related party transactions, and investments through FPIs based on closed cases from a decade ago."
The independent adjudicating authority and the appellate tribunal both confirmed that there was no over-valuation and the transactions were in accordance with applicable law. The Supreme Court of India ruled in our favor in March 2023, finalizing the matter. These allegations on the transfer of funds have no relevance or foundation, as there was no over-valuation.
The Adani group counters the accusations and says these news reports appear to be yet another concerted bid by George Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to 'revive the meritless Hindenburg report'.
Many suspect that some foreign owners of publicly listed Adani Group stock are, in fact, fronts for its majority owners. OCCRP says that neither India's stock market regulator nor a high-level expert committee has been able to prove this.
Report uncovers Adani Group's investments
As per the report, exclusive documents obtained by OCCRP and shared with the Guardian and Financial Times reveal that OCCRP obtained special documents related to the Adani Group. These files, which came from various tax havens, bank records, and emails within the Adani Group, offer insight into the situation. People familiar with the Adani Group's operations and records from different countries have confirmed the authenticity of these documents. The documents show that substantial amounts of money were invested in Adani stock using hidden funds based in Mauritius, the report stated.
In two cases, investors with connections to Adani family held significant stock. Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling, with family ties, traded in Adani Group stock. Funds they used received instructions from Adani family member's company.
"It alleges that the documents show that they spent years buying and selling Adani stock through offshore structures that obscured their involvement — and made considerable profits in the process through the Mauritius funds. The documents also show that the management company in charge of their investments paid a Vinod Adani company to advise them in their investments."
Adani Group denies OCCRP stock manipulation claim
The Adani group responds that these claims relate to cases from a decade ago when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) looked into allegations of over-invoicing, fund transfers, related party transactions, and investments via FPIs.
Adani said, "An independent adjudicating authority and an appellate tribunal both confirmed that there was no over-valuation and the transactions were in accordance with applicable law. The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India ruled in our favor in March 2023, finalizing the matter. These allegations on transfer of funds have no relevance or foundation due to the absence of over-valuation."
No evidence of breach of Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) or stock price manipulation was found by the Expert Committee. The group believes these attempts aim to profit by lowering stock prices, and short sellers are under scrutiny. They trust the law's process and deny these reports.
These publications, who sent queries to the Group, chose not to carry their response in full, and the Group finds it unfortunate.
Adani said, "We trust the due process of law and we are confident about the quality of our disclosures and corporate governance standards. Considering these facts, we find the timing of these news reports suspicious, mischievous, and malicious - and we completely reject these reports."
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