The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) dealt a heavy blow to the embattled Adani group on Thursday (August 31), alleging that hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in publicly traded group stocks through Mauritius-based ‘opaque’ investment funds managed by promoter family partners. The announcement sparked a riot in Adani Group shares on Thursday as OCCRP accused the Indian corporation of unethical business practices.
According to claims, the group firms covertly bought their shares between 2013 and 2018.
Even though the group rejected the charges, the news had a negative impact on Adani Group shares, which were already under significant selling pressure.
Research produced in January by the US-based Hindenburg Research said that account fraud, stock manipulation, and unlawful use of tax havens had wiped off close to $150 billion in the value of Adani Group equities.
OCCRP stated that it used a variety of data from several tax havens as well as internal Adani Group correspondence to support its charges against the business group. OCCRP, which is targeting Adani Group, stated that it was unclear in the public holdings if these shares were with persons linked with the Adani family.
In a salvo directed against Adani Group, OCCRP stated that it discovered two instances in which Adani family members purchased and traded Adani Group shares. According to the OCCRP research, two people from Mauritius’ Global Opportunities Fund have connections with Vinod Adani, Gautam Adani’s elder brother. OCCRP further said that the fund’s goal is to purchase and sell Adani Group shares. Adani Group denied the charges, claiming that OCCRP was attempting to benefit by targeting Adani Group shares.
According to the industry association, a probe into the short sellers has already begun. All Adani Group stocks suffered losses on Thursday, with the flagship company Adani Enterprises’ shares falling as much as 5.1 per cent to Rs 2,385 apiece in intraday trade.
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