Hindenburg asks Sebi chief to come clean
Says Buch's response now publicly confirms her investment in an obscure Bermuda/Mauritius fund structure
New Delhi: Continuing its broadside against Sebi chairperson MadhabiPuri Buch, US short-seller Hindenburg Research has asked her to come clean on the clients of a consulting firm in which she held stake even while being in office.
Hours after Madhabi and her husband, Dhaval issued a statement calling Hindenburg's latest tirade as an attack on the credibility of Sebi and attempted "character assassination", Hindenburg in a series of posts on X said their response includes several important admissions and raised numerous new critical questions.
"Buch's response now publicly confirms her investment in an obscure Bermuda/Mauritius fund structure, alongside money allegedly siphoned by Vinod Adani. She also confirmed the fund was run by a childhood friend of her husband, who at the time was an Adani director," it said.
Hindenburg had on Saturday alleged that the Buchs opened an account in 2015 with a wealth management firm in Singapore to invest undisclosed sum of money in a Mauritius-registered offshoot of a Bermuda-based fund. The Mauritian fund was run by an Adani director and its ultimate parent was the vehicle used by two Adani associates to round-trip funds and inflate stock prices.
Hindenburg also alleged that she held 100 per cent interest in a Singaporean consulting firm, Agora Partners from April 2017 to March 2022 while she was a whole-time member in Sebi. She passed on the shares to her husband two weeks after her appointment as the Sebi chairperson. It is being asked if Agora had publicly traded Indian firms as clients.
In response, the Buchs on Sunday said the investments were made in 2015, well before her appointment as a whole-time member of Sebi in 2017 and the subsequent elevation as chairperson in March 2022, and in capacity as "private citizens living in Singapore". These funds became "dormant" on her appointment in Sebi.
"Sebi was tasked with investigating investment funds relating to the Adani matter, which would include funds Ms Buch WAS PERSONALLY INVESTED IN and funds by the same sponsor which were specifically highlighted in our original report. This is obviously a massive conflict of interest," Hindenburg said.
