US regulators are probing Adani Group — the India-based conglomerate headed by embattled billionaire Gautam Adani — after a damning short seller’s report accused the corporate of using offshore corporations to control its share prices.
Investment research firm Hindenburg Research published a scathing report earlier this 12 months that claims “Adani Group has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of many years.”
The Latest York-based investigative group also raised concerns about Adani Group’s high debt, claiming it wiped greater than $11 billion in investor wealth.
Within the months following the report, US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, NY, issued subpoenas to institutional investors with large holdings, an individual conversant in the private probe told Bloomberg.
The anonymous person said the inquiries were focused on what Adani Group told American investors, the outlet reported.
The Securities and Exchange Commission can be reportedly investigating Adani Group, which is led by chief executive Adani, the nineteenth richest man on this planet with a $61.4 billion fortune, in response to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Adani Group is being investigated by US regulators for allegedly using offshore corporations to control its share price after a report from Hindenburg Research called out the conglomerate for operating a decades-long fraud scheme.REUTERS
Requesting information from Adani Group’s investors doesn’t mean US regulators will file criminal or civil proceedings.
Enforcement agencies often open inquiries that don’t result in legal motion, Bloomberg reported.
A spokesperson for Adani Group told the outlet the corporate was not aware of any subpoenas to investors.
Adani Group reported nearly $117 billion in revenue in 2022, and has a portfolio of corporations that spans airports, maritime ports, coal, renewable energy and more.
Hindenburg Research’s report said it found 38 shell entities operated out of the island of Mauritius, plus others in Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and lots of Caribbean Islands that seem like controlled by Adani’s elder brother, Vinod, or close associates.
“Most of the Vinod Adani-associated entities haven’t any obvious signs of operations, including no reported employees, no independent addresses or phone numbers and no meaningful online presence. Despite this, they’ve collectively moved billions of dollars into Indian Adani publicly listed and personal entities, often without required disclosure of the related party nature of the deals,” Hindenburg Research claimed.
The researcher identified Vinod as “an elusive figure” that has “often been found at the middle of the federal government’s investigations into Adani for his alleged role in managing a network of offshore entities used to facilitate fraud.”
The report also included 88 questions for Adani.
“If Gautam Adani truly embraces transparency, as he claims, they needs to be easy inquiries to answer. We look ahead to Adani’s response,” the notice concluded.
Adani Group’s chief executive is Gautam Adani, the nineteenth richest man on this planet with a $61.4B fortune, in response to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.AP
Adani then issued a 413-page response that began by calling Hindenburg Research staff the “Madoffs of Manhattan,” likening them to Bernie Madoff, a convicted fraudster for running the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.
Adani Group also rejected Hindenburg Research’s allegations, calling its report a “calculated attack on India.”
An SEC spokesperson told The Post that the agency “doesn’t comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.”
Representatives for Adani Group didn’t immediately reply to The Post’s request for comment.
Adani Group and its boss are reportedly facing an identical regulatory probe in its home country, in response to Bloomberg.
The news comes as Adani’s longtime friend and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a visit to the White House.AP
The news comes the day after Adani’s longtime friend and India’s leader, Narenda Modi, was welcomed to the White House by President Biden and an over-the-top spectacle on Thursday.
Adani and Modi met in 2002 within the prime minister’s hometown of Gujarat, where Adani Group is predicated, and developed a comfortable relationship within the years since.
After Hindenburg Research’s fraud claims were first published in late January, Adani Group’s stock was crippled, and Adani was stripped of his crown because the world’s No. 3 richest man.
As of premarket trading on Friday, Adani Group’s share price sat at $2,229 — down greater than 7% from yesterday and an almost 42% drop year-to-date.
