Adani Group stocks witnessed a significant plunge within the stock market’s opening bell on Thursday after fresh allegations made by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). The George Soros-backed investigative reporting platform said hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in some publicly traded stocks of the group through opaque Mauritius funds that obscured the involvement of alleged business partners of the Adani family.
Adani Enterprises shares fell 2.56 per cent to Rs 2,448.20 on the NSE. The stock fell as much as 4.4 per cent in early trade. Adani Ports and SEZ fell 2.15 per cent to Rs 801.20. Adani Power slipped 2.48 per cent to Rs 320.25. Adani Energy Solutions declined 1.87 per cent to Rs 826.00. Adani Green Energy fell 3.39 per cent, Adani Total Gas fell 1.59 per cent and Adani Wilmar fell 1.64 per cent. Cement makers ACC and Ambuja Cements fell over 2.5 per cent each. NDTV stock slipped 1.48 per cent.
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In a fresh set of allegations, the non-profit media organisation has labeled charges against Adani Group for using ‘opaque investments’ through Mauritius. According to the report, OCCRP has found two instances in which investors traded Adani stocks through such offshore structures.
However, Gautam Adani-led Adani Group denied the report and released a press statement just ahead of India’s stock market’s opening bell. The company said these news reports appear to be yet another concerted attempt by George Soros-funded interests supported by a section of foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report.
Adani Group also said that the allegations are not only baseless and substantiated but are rehashed from Hindenburg’s allegations.
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In addition, it categorically stated that all the publicly listed companies of Adani Group are in compliance with all applicable laws, including the regulation relating to public shareholdings.
Adani Group said that such attempts are aimed at, inter alia, generating profits by pulling down stock prices. These short sellers are under investigation by several authorities, it added.
According to the OCCRP report, Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling, who have close business ties with the Adani family, spent years trading hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Adani Group stock. They have also served as directors and shareholders in Adani Group entities and companies associated with Gautam Adani’s elder brother, Vinod Adani.
On the basis of an analysis of documents and records, it alleges that considerable profits were made by purchasing and selling Adani stock through this offshore agreement that obscured their involvement.
The management company in charge of Chung-Ling and Ahli’s investments also paid a Vinod Adani company to advise them on their investments, the OCCRP report said.
In January this year, a report by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research reported that the Adani Group had "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades.
On Tuesday, 29 August, it was reported that a probe into the Adani Group by the markets regulator SEBI had uncovered violations of rules on disclosures by listed entities and limits on the holdings of offshore funds.
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