NEW DELHI: Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch have denied the allegations made by the US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research that they had investments in one of the many Mauritius-based funds that were managed by the Adani group chairman’s brother to rig the share prices of the group companies and many other malpractices as “baseless insinuations aimed at character assassination”.
“In the context of the 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,” Buch said in a statement issued in her personal capacity and on behalf of her husband late last night.
“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,” the statement said.
Offering to come out with a detailed statement later, the statement said, “in the interest of complete transparency, we would be issuing a detailed statement in due course. It is unfortunate that Hindenburg, 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.”
Hindenburg had Saturday night alleged that Buch and her husband Dhaval held hidden stakes in the same obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds used by Vinod Adani, brother of billionaire Gautam Adani, in what is described as the money siphoning scandal.
Hindenburg suggested that this is why the Sebi was not keen to thoroughly investigate the Adani group scandal which it exposed in January 2023, accusing the Adani group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, which led to a significant decline in the company's stock price.
The Adani Group has consistently denied these allegations, and the Supreme Court has supported its stance.
Last year, the apex court noted that Sebi had not achieved significant results in its investigation into the Adani matter.
"We suspect Sebi’s reluctance to take meaningful action against suspected offshore shareholders in the Adani group may be due to chairperson Buch’s involvement with the same funds used by Vinod Adani," the short-seller stated in a new report released late on Saturday.
According to Hindenburg, whistleblower documents indicate that Buch and her husband first opened an account with IPE Plus Fund 1 on June 5, 2015, in Singapore.
"'IPE Plus Fund" is a small offshore Mauritius fund set up by an Adani director through India Infoline (IIFL), a listed wealth management firm with ties to the German Wirecard scandal. Vinod Adani reportedly used this structure to invest in Indian markets with funds allegedly siphoned from over-invoicing of power equipment to the Adani Group," Hindenburg said.
