Chairperson of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, Gautam Adani, speaking at the World Congress of Accountants in Mumbai on November 19, 2022.
Indranil Mukherjee | Afp | Getty Images
Shares of Adani Enterprises, as well as its subsidiaries, fell on Thursday following new allegations published by global investigative journalism network the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
Adani Enterprises fell 3%, while Adani Green Energy led losses among the group’s subsidiaries, falling 3.3%. This was followed by Adani Ports, which lost 3.13%. Shares of other Adani units also slipped roughly 2% to 3% Thursday.
The OCCRP alleged in a report published Thursday that hundreds of millions of dollars were secretly invested into publicly traded stocks of the Adani Group via “opaque” funds based in Mauritius. CNBC was not able to independently verify the claims.
The OCCRP, citing documents, alleged that the investments were done by two men, Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling, who share close ties with the Adani family, including appearing as directors and shareholders in the affiliated companies. The report claimed that, at one point in time, the value of both men’s investment in Adani was worth $430 million.
The Adani Group stated in a press release Thursday that it categorically rejected these “recycled” allegations. “These news reports appear to be yet another concerted bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report,” the statement said.
A spokesperson for the Open Society Foundations, set up by financier George Soros, was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
The report dealt a fresh blow to shares of the Indian conglomerate after short-seller firm Hindenburg accused billionaire Gautam Adani of engaging in “brazen” stock price manipulation and accounting fraud back in January.
In a separate interview with a reporter from the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper, said Chang Chung-Ling said he did not know anything about any the secret purchases of Adani stock. Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli declined to comment. CNBC was not able to contact the people highlighted in the report.
-CNBC’s Hui Jie Lim and Naman Tandon contributed to this report.