n ate Anderson, founder of Hindenburg Research, on Tuesday said the Adani Group is targeting journalist Dan McCrum at the Financial Times (FT) for the exclusive article on the group's operations. He further said that the last company, that tried to attack the Financial Times reports, was Wirecard, which was later found to be the largest fraud in German history.
Aderson-led Hindenburg Research had released a report in January accusing the Adani Group of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud”. Following which, the conglomerate group stocks witnessed a bloodbath at the stock market and lost nearly Rs 10 lakh crore in market cap.
On Monday, Adani Group condemned the "renewed attempt" by the Financial Times to "rehash old and baseless allegations to tarnish the name and standing of the Adani Group".
The ports-to-energy conglomerate said: “This is part of their extended campaign to advance vested interests under the guise of public interest.”
The FT had reportedly published an article on August 31, 2023, in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), wherein it said two men allegedly linked to Gautam Adani's brother Vinod Adani were using Bermuda's Global Opportunities Fund "to amass and trade large positions in shares of the Adani Group". They identified the two men as Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli from the United Arab Emirates and Chang Chung-Ling from Taiwan. Adani Group has denied the claims.
OCCRP claimed that millions were invested in some publicly traded stocks of Adani Group via "opaque" Mauritius funds that "obscured" the involvement of alleged business partners of the Adani family.
It further said that during its probe it found at least two cases where the investors bought and sold Adani stock through such offshore structures.
It is to be noted that OCCRP is funded by George Soros, who has been openly critical of the Adani Group.
The FT's story was said to be based on a General Alert Circular No.11/2016/CI dated March 30, 2016, issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
In its statement against the UK-based newspaper, the Adani Group alleged that the media outlet has been recycling old and unsubstantiated allegations to harm the global reputation of the conglomerate.
It called FT's articles as an "extended campaign" to serve undisclosed interests under the guise of public concern.
Adani Group Accuses Foreign Entities and Collaborators of Orchestrating Smear Campaign to Undermine Market Value
The company statement said: “There is a renewed attempt by the Financial Times and its collaborators to rehash old and baseless allegations to tarnish the name and standing of the Adani Group. This is part of their extended campaign to advance vested interests under the guise of public interest.”
“Continuing their relentless campaign, the next attack is being fronted by Dan McCrum of the Financial Times, who jointly with the OCCRP put out a false narrative against the Adani Group on 31 August 2023. The OCCRP is funded by George Soros, who has openly declared his hostility against the Adani Group,” the statement added.
The conglomerate accused the FT of attempting to “financially destabilize” the Adani Group by resurrecting an old and unfounded accusation of over-invoicing coal imports.
