Top Investor Mark Mobius Calls US DoJ's Action Against Adani A 'Wasted Expense'

The US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently filed an indictment and civil complaint in the New York District Court against senior Adani Group officials

Global investor Mark Mobius said on Tuesday that the recent indictment of Adani Group officials by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) is a wasteful expense. He added that once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, such actions involving government offices and overseas businesses are likely to diminish.

His comment comes amid growing concerns about the US Department of Justice's independence and the Adani Group's indictment, with questions being raised over whether the action is politically motivated.

“My guess is that Donald Trump will come in, and whoever he appoints to run the Justice Department will say, what are you guys doing? Sticking your nose into Indian businesses? Spending all this money on a trial which probably won't go anywhere?" Mobius told the news agency IANS.

The top investor further expressed a "strong possibility" that the Justice Department will distance itself from the Adani investigation and trial.

"I believe that there would be another implication where the Justice Department will be reorganised in America and will be asked to get less and less involved in overseas situations and more and more with domestic issues," said Mobius, who manages the Mobius EM Opportunities Fund for emerging markets.

The US DoJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently filed an indictment and civil complaint in the New York District Court against senior Adani Group officials. However, the Adani Group strongly denied the allegations, calling them "baseless," and vowed to pursue legal action to defend itself.

Mobius noted that many people are beginning to believe that with Trump taking office, "this DoJ situation in the US will likely fade away." Regarding the performance of Adani's portfolio stocks despite the developments in the US, he observed that the hedge fund campaign against the Adani Group appears to have lost momentum.

"A lot of investors began to look at this and said, well, Adani is under pressure, but at the end of the day, their business will continue to operate well and probably will continue to do well in the future," Mobius opined.

Adani stocks have made a strong recovery from their initial setbacks, now surging nearly daily on the Indian stock market. In just a three-day rally, they added over Rs 2 lakh crore to their market capitalisation.

A Bernstein report on Adani Group companies released on Tuesday highlighted that the Group is in a far stronger position now compared to when it faced the Hindenburg attack in January 2023.