American short seller Hindenburg said that while responding to our report, SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch has accepted many things, which has raised many new questions.
Hindenburg said- Butch’s answer confirms that his investments were in Bermuda/Mauritius funds. This is the same fund which was used by Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod Adani. It is alleged that Vinod Adani used to increase the price of his group’s shares through these funds.
Hindenburg Research also said that market regulator SEBI was assigned the task of investigating the same offshore funds related to the Adani case, in which investments were made on behalf of Madhabi Puri Buch. This is clearly a big case of conflict of interest.
Hindenburg had claimed in its report published on Saturday that Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch have stake in an offshore company linked to Adani Group.
Hindenburg’s new questions after SEBI chairperson’s answer
According to Buch, she had left both the consulting companies (an Indian unit and a Singaporean unit) as soon as she was appointed to SEBI in 2017, but the shareholding as of March 2024 shows that Madhabi has 99% stake in Agora Advisory (India).
Buch remained a 100% shareholder of Agora Partners Singapore until March 16, 2022, and remained its owner during her tenure as a member of SEBI. Two weeks after her appointment as SEBI chairperson, she transferred her shares to her husband.
The Singapore consulting unit that Butch founded does not publicly report its financial reports, such as revenues or profits, so it is impossible to see how much money the unit has made during his tenure at SEBI.
According to the financial statement, Agora Advisory India, in which Madhabi holds 99% stake, generated revenue of Rs 2.39 crore during the financial years (2022, 2023, and 2024). This revenue has been generated during Madhabi’s tenure as chairperson.