'Concerted bid by Soros-funded interests to revive meritless Hindenburg report': Adani Group denies OCCRP's allegations

The Adani Group said in a media statement, “We categorically reject these recycled allegations. These news reports appear to be yet another concerted bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report. In fact, this was anticipated, as was reported by the media last week.”

The new allegations come after US short-seller Hindenburg’s report in January this year that led to a considerable fall in Adani’s wealth and reputation.

Hungarian-American investor George Soros's Open Society Foundations is one of the donors of OCCRP.

OCCRP’s allegation, which surfaced in its report published earlier today (August 31), claims that exclusive documents obtained by it show that “in at least two cases … [supposedly public] investors turn out to have widely reported ties to the group’s majority shareholders, the Adani family”, and helped manipulate Adani companies’ stock prices, Indian Express reported.

Responding to the allegations, Adani Group termed them as a “concerted bid by Soros-funded interests” to “revive the meritless Hindenburg report”.

Adani Group said the 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 Hon'ble 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,” read the statement.

We look at what the OCCRP is, who it is backed by, and the kind of work it has done over the years, it said

The ports-to-power conglomerate said that these FPIs, notably, are already part of the investigation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

“As per the Expert Committee appointed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, there is no evidence of any breach of the Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) requirements or manipulation of stock prices. It is unfortunate that these publications, which sent us queries, chose not to carry our response in full,” it said.

The group alleged that these attempts are aimed at, inter alia, generating profits by driving down our stock prices and these short sellers are under investigation by various authorities.

It said as these matters are already being overseen by the Supreme Court and SEBI, it is vital to respect the ongoing regulatory process.

“We have complete faith in the due process of law and remain confident of the quality of our disclosures and corporate governance standards. In light of these facts, the timing of these news reports is suspicious, mischievous and malicious - and we reject these reports in their entirety,” said the release.

American Drew Sullivan and Bulgarian Paul Radu, both investigative journalists, founded OCCRP in 2006, with the aim to report investigating and reporting on organised crime and systemic corruption.

OCCRP was initially funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), with its first opened office in Sarajevo.

Who is George Soros?

Hungarian-American investor George Soros is a well-known hedge fund manager who is said to have made $1 billion by betting against the British pound in 1992. In 1997, he also bet against the currencies of several Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, and Malaysia. This led to a financial crisis in these countries, with Malaysia being the worst affected, India Today reported.

Soros has been accused of playing a role in the Asian financial crisis by betting against the Malaysian ringgit and Thai baht. He has denied any wrongdoing, but his actions have been criticized by some as irresponsible and destabilizing.

The 1997 Asian financial crisis was a major economic event that had a devastating impact on many countries in Asia. The crisis led to the collapse of currencies, stock markets, and banks, and caused widespread unemployment and poverty.

Furthermore, Soros has been accused of being involved in a variety of activities that have been seen as destabilizing to governments and societies, including plots to topple Russian President Vladimir Putin, funding for Arab Spring protest movements, and promoting mass migration to the European Union, said the report.

In February, George Soros said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have to answer questions from foreign investors and Parliament about allegations of fraud and stock manipulation at Gautam Adani's industrial empire.

George Soros and his Open Society Foundations have been accused of interfering in politics and promoting instability. They have been accused of supporting organizations that have been involved in government changes, toppling governments, and funding protest movements, reported India Today.

The Open Society Foundations have denied any wrongdoing and say that they are committed to promoting democracy and human rights.