Adani Group Rejects OCCRP Claims, Says "A Bid To Revive The Meritless Hindenburg Report"

Adani Group in a statement categorically rejected the claims by Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) calling it as "recycled allegations", calling them "yet another concerted bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report".

"We categorically reject these recycled allegations. These claims are based on closed cases from a decade ago when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) probed allegations of over invoicing, transfer of funds abroad, related party transactions and investments through FPIs. An independent adjudicating authority and an appellate tribunal had both confirmed that there was no over-valuation and that the transactions were in accordance with applicable law. The matter attained finality in March 2023 when the Supreme Court of India ruled in our favour. Clearly, since there was no over-valuation, there is no relevance or foundation for these allegations on transfer of funds," the group said in a statement.

The foreign portfolio investors named in the OCCRP report "are already part of the investigation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)", it said. "As per the Expert Committee appointed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, there is no evidence of any breach of the Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) requirements or manipulation of stock prices."

Attempt to generate profits

"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. As the Supreme Court and SEBI are overseeing these matters, it is vital to respect the ongoing regulatory process," it said.

"We have complete faith in the due process of law and remain confident of the quality of our disclosures and corporate governance standards. In light of these facts, the timing of these news reports is suspicious, mischievous and malicious - and we reject these reports in their entirety." PTI had on August 24 reported that the Soros-funded organisation, which calls itself an investigative reporting platform formed by 24 non-profit investigative centres is spread across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, is planning publication of fresh allegations against a top Indian corporate.

Hindenburg report against Adani Group

Notably, an American short seller Hindenburg Group had launched an attack on Adani Group in January this year through a report that allegedly claimed accounting fraud, stock price manipulation and improper use of tax havens.

Post the Hindenburg report, the group had erased close to USD 150 billion in its market value. Adani Group has been denying all allegations since the beginning of the controversy. The Adani Group had then attacked Hindenburg as "an unethical short seller", stating that the report by the New York-based entity was "nothing but a lie". A short-seller in the securities market books gains from the subsequent reduction in the prices of shares.

With inputs from Agencies.