MONEY
Hindenberg accuses SEBI chief of Adani link, she flays US short-seller for “character assassination”
- IBJ Bureau
- Aug 11, 2024
Hindenburg Research has accused Securities and Exchange Bureau of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Buch and her husband of having held “stakes in both the obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal,” citing “whistleblower documents”. The US-based short-seller had last year accused the Adani Group of alleged price rigging of its group company shares.
In 2023, the Hindenburg Report had triggered a series of investigations into alleged irregularities by the Adani Group but was marked by little or no visible regulatory action in India. In its latest release, Hindenburg has made other serious allegations about SEBI chief Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch potentially personally benefitting from certain statements made by her in her capacity as chairperson of India’s stock market regulator.
The report has also said that Ms Buch may have not disclosed the total income she has received from ‘consulting’ via her ownership of Agora Consulting, and the discrepancy could be as much as “4.4 times” her salary as SEBI chief.
Hindenburg has alleged that “despite the existence of thousands of mainstream, reputable onshore Indian mutual fund products, an industry she now is responsible for regulating, documents in its possession show that Madhabi Buch and her husband “had stakes in a multi-layered offshore fund structure with minuscule assets. The SEBI chief was traversing known high-risk jurisdictions, overseen by a company with reported ties to the Wirecard scandal, in the same entity run by an Adani director and significantly used by Vinod Adani in the alleged Adani cash siphoning scandal.”
Ms Buch and her husband have dismissed the allegations of Hindenburg Research as baseless. They have accused the US-based short-seller of attempting “character assassination” in response to a show-cause notice issued by the SEBI concerning the Adani issue.
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