In a report by the George Soros-funded Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, it was said that the Adani group today rejected the “recycled allegation” of the hidden investigator report.
“We categorically reject these recycled allegations. These news reports appear to be yet another concerted effort by Soros-funded interests, supported by a section of the foreign media, to revive the meritless Hindenburg report. In fact, this was anticipated, as was reported by the media last week,” said the ports-to-power conglomerate in a statement.
The OCCRP report alleges insider trading by two foreign investors.
The claims, the conglomerate said, were based on closed cases from a decade ago when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) probed allegations of over-invoicing, transfers of funds abroad, related party transactions, and investments made through FPIs (foreign portfolio investors).
The Adani Group asserted that “an independent adjudicating authority and an appellate tribunal had both confirmed that there was no overvaluation and that the transactions were in accordance with applicable law. The matter reached finality in March 2023, when the Supreme Court of India ruled in our favour. Clearly, since there was no overvaluation, there is no relevance or foundation for these allegations regarding the transfer of funds.
Notably, these FPIs are already taking action in the SEBI investigation. As per the Expert Committee appointed by the Supreme Court, they found no evidence of any breach of the Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) requirements or manipulation of stock prices. said by the group.
“It is unfortunate that these publications—those who sent queries to Adani Group for clarification—choose not to carry our response in full explanation. These attempts are aimed at, inter alia, generating profits by driving down our stock prices, and these short sellers are under investigation by various authorities in India.”
The company added It was vital to respect the ongoing regulatory process, given that the Supreme Court and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) are both overseeing the matter.
The CBI also investigated the allegations of over-evaluation and over-invoicing of power transmission equipment by the group. It closed the case on July 15, 2015.
The Enforcement Directorate has found that 18 companies, including foreign portfolio investors and foreign institutional investors in tax havens, were the top beneficiaries from short selling in shares of Adani Group companies after the Hindenburg report that led to a market crash in January 2023.
The Enforcement Directorate has shared its findings with SEBI. Sources say investigation agencies may investigate money laundering and other allegations against these companies.