Adani stocks fall after investigative platform OCCRP's report

Shares of Adani Group stocks fell on Thursday after a report from investigative reporting platform OCCRP alleged hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in publicly traded group stocks through Mauritius-based 'opaque' investment funds managed by partners of the promoter family of billionaire Gautam Adani.

However, the conglomerate denied the charges vehemently.

On the BSE, the stock of Adani Green Energy nosedived 4.43% to Rs 927.65 apiece, with a market capitalisation of Rs 1.47 lakh crore.

The scrip of Adani Power plunged 3.82% to Rs 315.85, flagship firm Adani Enterprises declined 3.56% to Rs 2,424 and Adani Energy Solutions fell 3.18% to Rs 814.95 apiece on the bourse.

Also, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) slipped 2.75% to Rs 796.50, Adani Total Gas dipped 2.74% to Rs 634.60, NDTV fell 2.69% to Rs 213.30 and Adani Wilmar declined 1.83% to Rs 362.20 per piece on the BSE.

Shares of ACC dipped 3.15% to Rs 1,937.10 and Ambuja Cements fell 2.84% to Rs 431.60.

In the morning session, the 30-shares BSE Sensex was trading 38.32 points or 0.06% lower at 65,048.93 points.

The fresh allegations by an organisation funded by likes of George Soros and Rockefeller Brothers Fund come months after a US short seller wiped away close to $150 billion in value of Adani Group stocks with allegations of accounting fraud, stock price manipulation and improper use of tax havens by the ports-to-energy conglomerate run by billionaire Gautam Adani. Adani Group has denied all Hindenburg allegations.

Citing review of files from multiple tax havens and internal Adani Group emails, OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) said its investigation found at least two cases where the "mysterious" investors bought and sold Adani stock through such offshore structures.

The two men, Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling, who OCCRP claimed have longtime business ties to the Adani family and have also served as directors and shareholders in Group companies and firms associated with Gautam Adani's elder brother Vinod Adani, "spent years buying and selling Adani stock through offshore structures that obscured their involvement - and made considerable profits in the process."

The documents "show that the management company in charge of their investments paid a Vinod Adani company to advice them in their investment", it alleged.

Adani in a statement categorically rejected what it called as "recycled allegations", calling them "yet another concerted bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report".

"These claims are based on closed cases from a decade ago when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) probed allegations of over-invoicing, transfer of funds abroad, related party transactions and investments through FPIs. An independent adjudicating authority and an appellate tribunal had both confirmed that there was no over-valuation and that the transactions were in accordance with applicable law. The matter attained finality in March 2023 when the Supreme Court of India ruled in our favour. Clearly, since there was no over-valuation, there is no relevance or foundation for these allegations on transfer of funds," it said.