Hitting back at Adani Group for claiming that the fraud allegation by the US short seller in its 100-page report was a “calculated attack on India”, Hindenburg Research on Monday said the ports-to-energy conglomerate “predictably tried to lead the focus away from substantive issues and instead stoked a nationalist narrative.” The investment research firm alleged that Adani Group, in its rebuttal, attempted to “conflate its meteoric rise and the wealth of its chairman…with the success of India itself.” (Also Read | ‘Hilarious beyond belief’: Adani’s ‘attack on India’ claim draws jibe from Oppn)
“We disagree. To be clear, we believe India is a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future. We also believe India’s future is being held back by the Adani Group, which has draped itself in the Indian flag while systematically looting the nation,” the firm stated.
“We also believe that fraud is fraud, even when it’s perpetrated by one of the wealthiest individuals in the world.”
On Sunday, Adani Group also claimed that the US short sellers were the “Madoffs of Manhattan”, referring to American fraudster and financier Bernard Lawrence Madoff, the mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history.
Taking a swipe at what Hindenburg called a “sensationalistic claim”, the US firm said, “Adani seems unaware that Madoff lived in Manhattan, so he was quite literally his own Madoff of Manhattan.”
Hindenburg said Adani’s lengthy response only included about 30 pages focused on issues related to the report and the remainder of it consisted of 330 pages of court records, high-level financials, general information, “and details on irrelevant corporate initiatives, such as how it encourages female entrepreneurship and the production of safe vegetables.”
The Adani Group took another blow on Monday, with the stock rout growing to $66 billion and its dollar bonds sold as the fight with short seller Hindenburg Research escalated, reported Bloomberg. While the broad selloff continued with Adani Total Gas Ltd. and Adani Transmission Ltd. down as much as 20% again, Adani Enterprises Ltd. as well as Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. rebounded following the group’s rebuttal of Hindenburg’s fraud allegations.
Read the full text of Adani’s response here
Hindenburg’s response to Adani’s rebuttal here