The Securities and Exchange Board of India is investigating the relationship between the Adani Group and Gulf Asia Trade & Investment, a fund incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, to determine whether any share ownership rules were violated.
The investigation was launched based on the inputs received from two people who are aware of the matter, according to a Reuters report.
The Gulf Asia fund, owned by Dubai-based businessman Nasser Ali Shaban Ali, has invested in several listed Adani entities, according to data shared with Reuters by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
The investigation is part of SEBI's ongoing probe into Adani Group, which was accused of accountancy fraud and stocks manipulation in a report by Hindenburg Research released earlier this year.
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Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the allegations levelled against it.
According to the circular from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Adani Group entities overvalued machinery and equipment that were imported from a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based entity. It reportedly believed that part of the money used in those transactions may have returned to the publicly traded Adani Group firms.
The OCCRP data showed that Gulf Asia had invested in Adani's listed firms months after SEBI had directed 105 companies to raise the number of shares held by the public to at least 2 per cent of their total floats.
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The company issued a statement saying, “We categorically reject these recycled allegations. These news reports appear to be yet another concerted bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report.
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