Hindenburg report cites Australia-based AdaniWatch claims to bolster allegations, SEBI chairperson denies charge

On late Saturday night, US-based short seller Hindenburg Research alleged that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband had stakes in "both the obscure offshore entities used in the Adani money siphoning scandal," a claim subsequently denied by Buch and her husband, who accused Hindenburg of character assassination.

Madhabi Buch and her husband in their statement, said, "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. 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."

In its report that has been filed on its website, Hindenburg has cited various sources to bolster its allegations against the SEBI chairperson.

One of them, according to Hindenburg, is an investigation by a non-profit project Adani Watch in December 2023 that showed how a web of offshore entities, allegedly controlled by Gautam Adani's brother, Vinod Adani, were recipients of funds from the alleged over-invoicing of power equipment.

Quoting Adani watch, Hindenburg alleges that in one complex structure, a Vinod Adani-controlled company had invested in "Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund" ("GDOF") in Bermuda, a British overseas territory and tax haven, which then invested in IPE Plus Fund 1, a fund registered in Mauritius, another tax haven.
Hindenburg then alleges, "The current SEBI Chairperson and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had hidden stakes in the exact same obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, found in the same complex nested structure, used by Vinod Adani."

Hindenburg report also cites a separate investigation by the Financial Times showed that the parent fund of GDOF - the Bermuda-based Global Opportunities Fund ("GOF") - was used by two Adani associates "to amass and trade large positions in shares of the Adani Group". This report had also been rejected by the Adani group.

As per claims on its website, AdaniWatch is a non-profit project established by the Bob Brown Foundation to "shine a light on 'The Adani Group's misdeeds' across the planet." It says that AdaniWatch will use global connections to uncover the facts about Adani's international and Australian activities.

AdaniWatch is run by former Australian Senator Bob Brown and has singularly targeted the Adani group over the last few years. Its most recent allegations have been about Tribal unrest against an Adani Coal Mine in Chhattisgarh's Hasdeo Forest and concerns about pollution in a mine run by the Adani group in Carmichael Australia.

Last year on January 24, Hindenburg Research released a report had made several claims against the Adani group, all of which were denied by them. This triggered a rout in Adani Group's stocks and a massive sell-off in the overseas listed bonds.

In January 2024, the Supreme Court refused to transfer the probe into the allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group to an SIT and had directed market regulator SEBI to complete its probe into two pending cases within three months. 

The judgment was based on the PILs, filed by lawyers Vishal Tiwari, M L Sharma, Congress leader Jaya Thakur, and petitioner Anamika Jaiswal.

The bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said the facts of the case do not warrant a transfer of investigation from the SEBI.
Earlier this year the SC also dismissed a plea seeking to review the verdict that had sought investigation by the market watchdog SEBI in the Adani-Hindenburg case.