SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch on Sunday issued a detailed statement responding to the allegations made by American short seller Hindenburg. In its new report, Hindenburg has claimed links between Adani Group and SEBI Chief Madhabi Puri Buch, alleging that documents obtained from the whistleblower show that the SEBI Chairman was involved in offshore entities that were used in the Adani money siphoning scandal. There was a stake. The Buchs said their investment in the fund was made two years before Madhabi joined SEBI.
Had invested two years before joining SEBI
In the statement, the Buchs said they had invested in IPE Plus Fund 1 managed by 360 One Asset & Wealth Management (formerly IIFL Wealth Management) in 2015. This investment was made by him two years before Madhabi joined SEBI as a whole-time member when both of them lived in Singapore as private citizens.
According to the statement, the decision to invest in the fund was taken because Chief Investment Officer Anil Ahuja is Dhawal’s childhood friend from school and IIT Delhi and has decades of experience as a former employee of Citibank, JP Morgan and 3i Group PLC. Had a strong investment career.
‘Our life and finances are like an open book’
Rejecting the allegations made by the American short seller, SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch said in a statement issued early on Sunday morning that the allegations made in the Hindenburg report on August 10 are baseless. And there is no truth of any kind in these. Our life and finances are like an open book. Whatever information we needed to make, all that information has been given to SEBI over the years.
SEBI also issued a statement
SEBI has also issued a statement on the report of Hindenburg Research. SEBI said, ‘Among other things, the report claims that SEBI has not taken any action against the Adani Group. This raises questions over SEBI’s action of issuing a show cause notice to Hindenburg Research on June 27, 2024. It is noteworthy that SEBI has duly investigated the allegations made by Hindenburg Research against Adani Group.
SEBI said, ‘The Supreme Court in its order dated January 3, 2024 said that SEBI has completed 22 out of 24 investigations of Adani Group. Subsequently, another investigation was completed in March 2024 and one remaining investigation is nearing completion. During the ongoing investigation in this case, more than 100 summons, about 1100 letters and emails have been issued seeking information. Also, more than 300 documents comprising about 12,000 pages have been examined.
What allegations did Hindenburg make?
The report released by Hindenburg on Saturday claimed that whistleblower documents reveal that Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch opened their account with IPE Plus Fund 1 in Singapore on June 5, 2015. The total investment of the couple in this is estimated at 10 million dollars. Hindenburg alleged that the offshore Mauritius fund was set up by a director of Adani Group through India Infoline and is registered in tax haven Mauritius.