In the wake of fresh allegations against the Adani Group, the CPI(M) charged on Thursday that the links of the Gujarat-based business conglomerate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi have ensured no action against it.
The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) trained its guns on billionaire Gautam Adani’s business group on Thursday, alleging that hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in the publicly-traded group stocks through Mauritius-based “opaque” investment funds managed by the partners of the promoter family, a charge denied by the conglomerate vehemently.
“Fresh evidence has emerged about the Adani Group’s manipulation of stock prices of its companies to inflate their value and assets. Adani’s links with Prime Minister Modi have so far ensured that the regulatory authorities do not take any action against the widespread fraud and manipulation of the stock market,” the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said in a statement. “The report also shows that the SEBI was looking into the matter of offshore funding of Adani companies in 2014 but had closed the enquiries subsequently. The fresh evidence necessitates a serious probe and the Supreme Court has to step in to ensure that there is no cover up,” the Left party added.
In a statement, the Adani Group categorically rejected what it called “recycled allegations”, describing those as “yet another concerted bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report”. The fresh allegations by an organisation funded by the likes of George Soros and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund come months after US short seller Hindenburg Research 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. The Adani Group has denied all the Hindenburg allegations.
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