‘Likelihood of SEBI's Compromise, Probe Must Be Handed to CBI': Congress on Hindenburg Allegations
New Delhi: Rejecting SEBI’s statement in light of the latest allegations put forth by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research, the Congress on Monday said that the probe into the Adani group should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or a special investigation team (STI) as serious questions have been raised against the market regulator and its chief Madhabi Puri Buch.
Hindenburg Research on Saturday (August 10), accused Madhabi and her husband Dhaval Buch of having held “stakes in both the obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.”
The report alleges that Madhabi and her husband “had stakes in a multi-layered offshore fund structure with minuscule assets, traversing known high-risk jurisdictions, overseen by a company with reported ties to the Wirecard scandal, in the same entity run by an Adani director and significantly used by Vinod Adani in the alleged Adani cash siphoning scandal.”
"Clearly, no institution is sacrosanct in Amrit Kaal. Did the SEBI chairperson recuse herself from the Adani investigations? Do these conflicts of interest explain the prolonged investigation, a delay that has benefited both Adani and the prime minister while damaging SEBI’s reputation? How can a match proceed if the umpire herself is compromised?” said Congress communication secretary Jairam Ramesh.
Also read: SEBI Chair's Statement on Its Report ‘Raises Numerous New Critical Questions’, Hindenburg Says
Raising doubt over SEBI’s integrity and Madhabi’s conduct, Congress demanded that the Supreme Court transfer the investigation to the CBI or an SIT “ given the likelihood of SEBI’s compromise”.
“At a minimum, the SEBI Chairperson must resign to restore SEBI’s integrity," the Congress’s official statement said.
A day after the allegations made by Hindenburg Research on Saturday, SEBI had issued a statement saying it had completed 23 of the 24 investigations against the Adani group and issued 100 summons, 1,100 letters and emails, and examined 300 documents containing 12,000 pages.
These investigations had been initiated after the first set of allegations put forth by Hindenburg Research in 2023 accusing the Adani group of price-rigging of company shares.
Ramesh, calling this an attempt to project an image of hyperactivity, said, "This must have been very exhausting, but it diverts attention from the core issues involved...the slow pace of these investigations (by SEBI), especially compared to the swift 'justice' that the prime minister's investigative agencies usually deliver to opposition leaders, remains inexplicable.”
“Moreover, recent revelations raise disturbing questions about SEBI's integrity and conduct in investigating the Adani MegaScam. SEBI, long considered a trustworthy global financial market regulator, is now under scrutiny. It is shocking to discover that the SEBI chairperson and her husband invested in the same opaque Bermuda and Mauritius-based offshore funds where Vinod Adani and his close associates, Chang Chung-Ling and Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli, also invested," he added.
The August 10 report, in addition to unearthing ties between the SEBI chief and the Adani group, made other serious allegations against Madhabi. The short seller alleged that Madhabi and her husband potentially personally benefited from certain statements made by her in her capacity as chairperson of India’s stock market regulator.
The report also said that she may have not disclosed the total income she receives from consulting via her ownership of Agora Consulting, a Singapore-based firm that Madhabi had a 100% stake in until March 16, 2022, and the discrepancy could be as much as “4.4 times” her salary as SEBI chief.
Madhabi and her husband have not denied the controversial offshore investments.
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