Hindenburg Research claimed in a blog post on Saturday night that the market regulator was hesitant to take action on its January 2023 Adani report because Madhabi Puri Buch, the chairperson of Sebi, and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had made investments in offshore funds that were connected to the Adani Group.
The accusations were refuted by the Sebi chief and her spouse, who described them as “baseless” and an attempt at “character assassination.”
The billionaire Gautam Adani was accused by Hindenburg of committing the “biggest scam in corporate history” eighteen months before the company’s most recent attack. All of the accusations were sharply refuted by the Adani Group.
Hindenburg said in a blog post on Saturday that Madhabi Puri Buch and Dhaval Buch had invested in Global Dynamic Opportunities firm, a firm domiciled in Bermuda, and IPE Plus vehicle 1, a vehicle established in Mauritius.
Additionally, it stated that a business owned by Vinod Adani had invested in the Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund, which in turn had invested in the IPE Plus Fund 1. Anil Ahuja, a director of Adani Enterprises, was the fund’s creator and chief investment officer. The older brother of Gautam Adani is Vinod.
“We suspect that SEBI’s reluctance to take meaningful action against suspicious offshore shareholders in the Adani Group may stem from Chairperson Madhabi Buch’s complicity in using the same funds used by Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod Adani,” Hindenburg wrote.
Citing documents received from a whistleblower, such as the fund declaration statement for IPE Plus Fund 1, which is signed by a principal of IIFL, the company that handles these schemes, the short seller made these accusations. The couple’s net worth was calculated at $10 million in 2015, and the statement stated that their “salary” is the source of investment.
In a statement, Madhabi Puri Buch and Dhaval Buch said, “About the allegations made against us in the Hindenburg Report dated August 10, 2024, we would like to state that we strongly deny the baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report.”
“All these allegations are devoid of truth. Our lives and finances are an open book. All the required disclosures have already been submitted to Sebi over the years,” they added.
(With agency inputs)