US short-seller Hindenburg Research has levelled new accusations against Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch. In a recent blog post, Hindenburg claimed that the Buchs had stakes in obscure offshore funds linked to the Adani money siphoning scandal. It said 18 months since its damning report on Adani, “SEBI has shown a surprising lack of interest in Adani’s alleged undisclosed web of Mauritius and offshore shell entities.”
Obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, allegedly controlled by Vinod Adani — elder brother of group chairman Gautam Adani — are alleged to have been used to round-trip funds and inflate stock prices. Madhabi Buch and her husband have called the report “baseless allegations and insinuations” and an attempted “character assassination”.
Here’s a chronology of the Adani-Hindenburg-Sebi case:
-January 2023: A report published by Hindenburg Research alleges that Adani Group of companies manipulated its share prices. It accused the Adani Group of pulling “the largest con in corporate history” by using a web of companies in tax havens to inflate its revenue and manipulate stock prices, even as debt piled up.
-February 2023: A public interest litigation (PIL) is filed in the Supreme Court, calling for the formation of a committee under a retired judge to investigate the allegations.
-March 2, 2023: The Supreme Court set up a six-member expert committee “to investigate if there was a regulatory failure in dealing with the alleged contravention of laws pertaining to the securities market in relation to the Adani Group or other companies.” The Court also established a panel to protect Indian investors after Hindenburg’s report led to a significant drop in the conglomerate’s market value.
-May 2023: The court-appointed expert committee submits its report.
-May 17, 2023: The Supreme Court grants SEBI an extension until August 14, 2023, to report on its investigation into Adani’s stock price manipulation allegations.
-November 24, 2023: The Supreme Court reserves its verdict on multiple petitions related to the Adani-Hindenburg dispute.
-January 3, 2024: The Supreme Court declines to transfer the investigation to a special team and instructs SEBI to complete its probe into two pending cases within three months.
-June 2024: Hindenburg reports receiving an email from SEBI on June 27, followed by a show cause notice regarding alleged violations related to bets on Adani stocks.
-August 10, 2024: Hindenburg Research alleges that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in obscure offshore entities involved in the Adani scandal. Hindenburg criticised SEBI for not taking public action despite the evidence and numerous independent media investigations into the allegations.