The Adani Group of India has refuted any involvement in an investigation into securities fraud and money laundering that resulted in the freezing of over $310 million in cash that was concealed in Swiss bank accounts.
The assertion was made on X on Thursday night by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, a longtime opponent of the Indian company, who cited court documents obtained by Gotham City, a Swiss media site.
“Swiss authorities have frozen more than $310 million in funds across multiple Swiss bank accounts as part of a money laundering and securities forgery investigation into Adani,” Hindenburg said.
The company further stated that the case’s prosecutors had proven that a “Adani frontman” had used money to invest in Adani equities by passing it through the British Virgin Islands, Mauritius, and Bermuda, three countries that are well-known for acting as popular middlemen in opaque financial transactions.
The Adani Group swiftly disregarded the claims, labelling them as “baseless” and “preposterous”.
“The Swiss court has neither mentioned our group companies, nor have we received any requests for clarification or information from any such authority or regulatory body,” it said in a statement.
The back-and-forth is the most recent development in a protracted conflict between Hindenburg and the family-run Indian industrial giant, which has stakes in everything from ports and media to mining and electricity production.
The Adani Group lost billions of dollars of market value last year as a result of a shocking Hindenburg report that charged the company with “brazen” corporate malfeasance.
The second-richest man in Asia and billionaire founder Gautam Adani refuted the accusations in the article, referring to it as a “deliberate attempt” to harm the company’s reputation in order to enrich Hindenburg and other short sellers.
Adani’s stock remained unchanged on Friday.
