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SEBI chief Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch have described Hindenburg’s allegations as an attempt to tarnish their image.
American short seller Hindenburg said that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch has accepted many things in response to our report, which has raised many new questions. Hindenburg wrote on social media platform X – Buch’s response confirms Vinod Adani’s investment in a fund in Bermuda / Mauritius. Apart from this, the money allegedly embezzled by him is also confirmed.
She has also confirmed that the fund was run through her husband’s childhood friend, who was then a director of Adani. SEBI was tasked with investigating the investment funds related to the Adani case, in which investments were made on behalf of Madhabi Puri Buch. This is clearly a major conflict of interest.
Hindenburg raises new questions about the Buch couple
- Buch has claimed that she left both the consulting companies as soon as she was appointed to SEBI in 2017, but the shareholding as of March 2024 shows that Madhabi has a 99% stake in Agora Advisory (India). This company is still earning.
- Madhabi held 100% stake in Agora Partners Singapore till March 16, 2022, i.e. while she was a full-time member of SEBI. She transferred her shares to her husband’s name two weeks after becoming SEBI chairperson.
- Agora Advisory earned a revenue of Rs 2.3 crore in the financial years (22, 23, 24) during which she was the chairperson of SEBI. It is also important to note that Buch conducted business using her husband’s name from her personal email ID while being a full-time member of SEBI.
- NTT, the Singapore-based consultancy that Buch founded, does not publicly report its financials, such as revenue or profits, so it is impossible to see how much money NTT made during his tenure at SEBI.
- According to whistleblower documents, a few weeks before her appointment as a full-time member of SEBI in 2017, Buch ensured that accounts linked to Adani were registered ‘solely in the name of Dhaval Buch’, her husband.
The SEBI chairperson had invested in the fund mentioned in 2015
Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhawal Buch issued a statement on Sunday (August 11) denying Hindenburg’s allegations. SEBI Chairperson said – She had taken the fund mentioned in 2015. She had no connection with SEBI then.
He alleged that Hindenburg has been issued show cause notices in different cases in India. It is unfortunate that instead of responding to the notices, he has chosen to attack the credibility of SEBI and character assassinate the SEBI Chief.
Adani Group said- we do not have business relations with those whose names were mentioned by Hindenburg
On the Hindenburg report, the Adani Group has said that the group has no business relations with the SEBI chief. The group has no transactions with the people whose names have been taken along with the SEBI chief. The questions raised on foreign holdings are baseless. The structure of the group’s foreign holdings is completely transparent. It was not used for money manipulation.
The group said- Hindenburg misused publicly available information for its own benefit. The allegations leveled against the Adani Group have already been proven baseless. After a thorough investigation, the Supreme Court dismissed Hindenburg’s allegations in January 2024.
The Buch couple said that they invested in Singapore fund in 2015 and Madhabi joined SEBI in 2017.
- Dhaval lived in London and Singapore while working for Unilever between 2010 and 2019. Madhabi worked for a private equity fund in Singapore and then as an independent consultant between 2011 and 2017. The investment Hindenburg refers to was made by the couple in 2015.
- Madhabi joined SEBI in 2017. Dhawal made this investment on the advice of his childhood friend Anil Ahuja, who was its CEO. Ahuja left the fund in 2018. Till then, the fund had not invested in bonds or equities of any company of the Adani Group.
- Dhaval joined the Blackstone Fund in 2019. He was not in the real estate wing of the fund. Madhabi had not become the chairman of SEBI till then. When Dhaval acquired the joint stake in the Singapore-based fund, he informed the government along with SEBI. This information is also with the Singapore government and the country’s income tax department.
- Hindenburg has described the information as revelations that are already in the public domain. But it has not yet responded to SEBI’s notice. Hindenburg has violated several Indian laws.
Read what allegations Hindenburg made on August 10…
- Whistleblower documents reveal that current SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband had stakes in both the offshore funds (Bermuda and Mauritius) used in the Adani money siphoning scam, which was used by Vinod Adani.
- It appears that Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch first opened their account with IPE Plus Fund 1 in Singapore on June 5, 2015. The investment source is “Salary” and the couple’s net worth is estimated at $10 million.
- Madhabi Buch was appointed as a “whole-time member” of SEBI in April 2017. A few weeks before this appointment, Madhabi’s husband, Dhaval Buch, wrote an email to Mauritius fund administrator Trident Trust Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund regarding an investment in the fund.
- In the email, Dhaval Buch requested to be “the only person authorized to operate the accounts,” Hindenburg said – a move that appears to have moved the assets out of his wife’s name ahead of the politically sensitive appointment.
- A subsequent account statement addressed to Madhabi Buch’s personal email dated February 26, 2018, reveals the full details of the structure: GDOF Cell 90 (IPEplus Fund 1). At that time, Buch’s stake was valued at $8.72 lakh.
- From April 2017 to March 2022, Madhabi held 100% interest in a Singapore offshore consulting firm called Agora Partners. On March 16, 2022, after her appointment as SEBI chairperson, she quietly transferred the shares to her husband.
Hindenburg wrote in its report that despite the disclosures made in January 2023 regarding the Adani Group, SEBI did not take any public action against the Adani Group.
Adani Group was accused of money laundering and share manipulation
On 24 January 2023, Hindenburg Research published a report on the Adani Group. After the report, there was a huge decline in the shares of the group. However, there was a recovery later. Regarding this report, the Indian stock market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had also sent a 46-page show cause notice to Hindenburg.
In a blog post published on July 1, 2024, Hindenburg Research said that the notice states that it has violated the rules. The company said, SEBI has alleged that Hindenburg’s report contains some false statements to mislead readers. In response to this, Hindenburg had made several allegations against SEBI itself.
Adani Enterprises shares fell 59% after the report
On 24 January 2023 (25 January Indian time), the share price of Adani Enterprises was Rs 3442. On 25 January, it fell 1.54% to close at Rs 3388. On 27 January, the share price fell 18% to Rs 2761. By 22 February, it had fallen 59% to Rs 1404. However, later the stock saw recovery.
Short selling means selling the shares first and buying them later
Short selling means selling shares that the trader does not have at the time of the trade. These shares are later bought to square off the position. Arrangements for lending or borrowing shares are necessary before short selling.
In simple words, just like you first buy shares and then sell them, in short selling, shares are first sold and then bought. In this way, whatever difference comes in between, that is your profit or loss.
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