Authorities in the United States are making inquiries about the representations that the Adani Group made to its American investors in the wake of the allegations of stock manipulation by Hindenburg Research, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
The inquiries have been sent by the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn to institutional investors with large holdings in the Indian conglomerate, a person familiar with the development told the news website.
US markets regulator Securities and Exchange Commission is also conducting a similar investigation, two other people aware of the developments, told Bloomberg.
The requests for information were focused on what Adani Group told those investors, the person said. Such requests from US prosecutors do not necessarily lead to criminal or civil proceedings as law enforcement agencies often open inquiries that do not result in further legal action, according to Bloomberg.
A spokesperson of the Adani Group said that it was not aware of any requests for inquiries being sent to its investors.
“Our various issuers groups remain confident that the disclosures are full and complete as disclosed in the relevant issuer offering circulars,” the spokesperson said, according to Bloomberg.
American firm Hindenburg Research in a report on January 24 had alleged that billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate was pulling off the “largest con in corporate history”. Hindenburg claimed that the Adani Group has been involved in accounting fraud, improper use of tax havens and money laundering. The Adani Group has rejected these allegations but the report still pummeled the stocks of the conglomerate’s listed companies.
In May, an expert panel constituted by the Supreme Court to oversee investigations into the Adani Group had said that prima facie it was not possible to conclude whether there had been any regulatory failure in the case.
The panel had noted that the Securities and Exchange Board of India has “drawn a blank” in its inquiry into suspected violations in foreign investments in the Adani Group and added that its investigation in the case could be a “journey without a destination”.
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