Adani hits back at Hindenburg fraud allegations

India’s Adani Group has issued a strongly-worded response to a Hindenburg Research report, calling it a “calculated attack on India” and saying it complies with all local laws and had made the necessary regulatory disclosures.

The firm, which lost $65 billion of its value amid weak investor sentiment, described the dossier as a ”maliciously mischievous, unresearched report”.

”This is not merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India,” stated the Adani response.

On 24 January, investment research firm, Hindenburg, presented what it said was evidence that Adani Group had “engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades”.

The report alleged that Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the Adani Group, has amassed a net worth of roughly $120 billion, adding over $100 billion in the past three years largely through stock price appreciation in the group’s seven key listed companies, which have spiked an average of 819% in that period.

The Adani Group has previously been the focus of four government fraud investigations which have alleged money laundering, theft of taxpayer funds and corruption, totaling an estimated $17 billion.

Adani family members allegedly cooperated to create offshore shell entities in tax-haven jurisdictions like Mauritius, the UAE, and Caribbean Islands - the Hindenburg report accused - generating forged import/export documentation in an apparent effort to generate fake or illegitimate turnover and to siphon money from the listed companies.

Adani calls short seller’s report a lie; alleges ‘ulterior motive’

Hitting back, Adani released a lengthy and strongly worded statement refuting the Hindenburg findings, describing the report as “nothing but a lie”.

“The document is a malicious combination of selective misinformation and concealed facts relating to baseless and discredited allegations to drive an ulterior motive.

”This is rife with conflict of interest and intended only to create a false market in securities to enable Hindenburg, an admitted short seller, to book massive financial gain through wrongful means at the cost of countless investors.

”It is tremendously concerning that the statements of an entity sitting thousands of miles away, with no credibility or ethics has caused serious and unprecedented adverse impact on our investors.

”The mala fide intention underlying the report is apparent given its timing when Adani Enterprises Limited is undertaking what would be the largest ever further public offering of equity shares in India,” it continued.

“This is not merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India.”