Adani's Response Ignored Key Questions: Hindenburg

Short-seller says fraud can't be 'obfuscated by nationalism or a bloated response' that ignores allegations

- Swaraj Singh Dhanjal

Hindenburg Research, the H US short seller that has accused the Adani group of fraud, said Adani's Sunday night response to its allegations largely confirmed its findings and ignored key questions.

In a 413-page rebuttal filed late Sunday night, the Adani group labelled the US short seller as the "Madoffs of Manhattan." In its response, Hindenburg said, "Fraud cannot be obfuscated by nationalism or a bloated response that ignores every key allegation we raised."

"In short, the Adani group has attempted to conflate its meteoric rise and the wealth of its chairman, Gautam Adani, with the success of India itself. We disagree. To be clear, we believe India is a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future. We also believe India's future is being held back by the Adani Group, which has draped itself in the Indian flag while systematically looting the nation," Hindenburg said.

The short seller also denied Adani's claims that it had violated securities and foreign exchange laws. "In terms of substance, Adani's '413 page' response only included about 30 pages focused on issues related to our report. The remainder of the response consisted of 330 pages of court records, along with 53 pages of high-level financials, general information, and details on irrelevant corporate initiatives, such as how it encourages female entrepreneurship and the production of safe vegetables," Hindenburg noted.