OCCRP Allegations On Adani Group: Stocks Plummet; Adani Green Energy Sheds Over 4 Per Cent

Adani Green Energy stock on the BSE nosedived 4.43 per cent to Rs 927.65 apiece, with a market capitalisation of Rs 1.47 lakh crore

Adani Group stocks declined on Thursday after a report from George Soros-supported 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 promoter family of billionaire Gautam Adani. However, Adani Group 'categorically' denied the allegations calling OCCRP allegations 'recycled' and 'bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report.'

Adani Green Energy stock on the BSE nosedived 4.43 per cent to Rs 927.65 apiece, with a market capitalisation of Rs 1.47 lakh crore. The scrip of Adani Power plunged 3.82 per cent to Rs 315.85, flagship firm Adani Enterprises declined 3.56 per cent to Rs 2,424 and Adani Energy Solutions fell 3.18 per cent to Rs 814.95 apiece on the bourse. Also, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) slipped 2.75 per cent to Rs 796.50, Adani Total Gas dipped 2.74 per cent to Rs 634.60, NDTV fell 2.69 per cent to Rs 213.30 and Adani Wilmar declined 1.83 per cent to Rs 362.20 per piece on the BSE. Shares of ACC dipped 3.15 per cent to Rs 1,937.10 and Ambuja Cements fell 2.84 per cent to Rs 431.60. 

At 1. 15 pm, the BSE Sensex declined 97 points to 64,989, while the NSE Nifty was trading at 19,296, down 51 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 USD 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.

Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling, the two persons who OCCRP claimed have long time business ties to the Adani family and have also served as directors and shareholders in group firms and companies 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", OCCRP alleged.

Adani Group in a statement said, "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 ruled in our favour. Clearly, since there was no over-valuation, there is no relevance or foundation for these allegations on transfer of funds."