US-based Hindenburg Research has hit back at Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch alleging that she ensured the accounts tied to Adani ‘be registered solely in the name of Dhaval Buch’, her husband.
It further claimed that two weeks after her appointment as SEBI Chairperson, Buch redeemed the funds through her husband’s name. Earlier, Hindenburg Research, in a post on X alleged that Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.
As per Hindenburg, 18 months after its critical report on Adani, "SEBI has shown a surprising lack of interest in Adani's alleged undisclosed web of Mauritius and offshore shell entities."
Hidenburg said that Madhabi Buch and her husband had undisclosed investments in obscure offshore funds in Bermuda and Mauritius. These are the same entities that are used by Gautam Adani’s brother, Vinod Adani to manipulate the financial markets. These investments reportedly date back to 2015, well before Madhabi Buch’s appointment as a whole-time member of SEBI in 2017 and her elevation to SEBI chairperson in March 2022.
The report also alleges that Madhabi Buch’s husband requested the transfer of their investments into his sole control just weeks before her appointment as Sebi Chairperson, potentially to avoid any scrutiny related to her new regulatory role.
"In the letter, Dhaval Buch requested to "be the sole person authorised to operate the Accounts", seemingly moving the assets out of his wife's name ahead of the politically sensitive appointment," it alleged.
The couple’s investments were reportedly funnelled through a complex, multi-layered offshore structure, raising questions about their legitimacy and purpose.
"In a later account statement dated February 26th, 2018, addressed to Madhabi Buch's private email, the full details of the structure are revealed: "GDOF Cell 90 (IPEplus Fund 1)". Again, this is the exact same Mauritius-registered "cell" of the fund, found several layers deep in a convoluted structure, reportedly used by Vinod Adani," it alleged.
The Hindenburg report is the latest in a series of allegations against the Adani Group, a conglomerate accused of stock manipulation and financial misconduct in a January 2023 report by the same research firm. That report led to a steep decline in Adani’s stock prices, wiping out over $100 billion in market value.
Earlier in the day, Hindenburg Research shared a cryptic post on X, hinting at another major India-focused report.
“Something big soon India,” the firm wrote.
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