Mtoa Taarifa
JF-Expert Member
- Sep 21, 2024
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Januari 2023 Mfanyabiashara Gautam Adani ambaye ni mmiliki wa Kampuni za ADAN GROUP alijikuta akiondolewa katika orodha ya Matajiri wakubwa duniani baada ya thamani ya utajiri wake kushuka kwa zaidi ya Tsh. Trilioni 60 kutokana na kudaiwa kufanya Udanganyifu kwenye masuala ya Hisa na Masuala ya Hesabu za kampuni.
Gautam Adani ni bilionea aliyejitengenezea utajiri wake mwenyewe, na mtu tajiri zaidi nchini India, akiwa na utajiri wa takriban dola bilioni 118 kufikia Aprili 2022. Sehemu kubwa ya utajiri huu ilikusanywa katika kipindi cha miaka mitatu iliyopita kupitia kampuni yake ya Adani Group, kama bei za hisa za kampuni yake zinavyoonesha. Makampuni muhimu yaliyoorodheshwa chini ya Adan Group yalipanda thamani na kumpandisha bilionea huyo hadi kuwa mtu wa tatu kwa utajiri duniani, nyuma ya Elon Musk na Jeff Bezos.
Ikumbukwe, Adan Group imesaini Mkataba wa miaka 30 wa Uendeshaji wa baadhi ya Gati katika Bandari ya Dar es Salaam na kwasasa kampuni hiyo inapambana kupata dili la kuendesha Uwanja wa Ndege wa Jomo Kenyatta nchini Kenya, licha ya Wananchi kupinga suala hilo linaloonekana kusukumwa na Serikali ya Ruto.
Mfanyabiashara huyo wa viwanda alianza kama mfanyabiashara wa bidhaa katika miaka ya 1980 kabla ya kuanzisha kampuni yake ya Adani Group mwaka wa 1988, na hatimaye kuipanua katika himaya yake binafsi ya miundombinu ambayo inaendesha bandari, viwanja vya ndege, na migodi ya makaa ya mawe kote India na duniani kote. Adan ina matawi mengi kupitia vituo vyake vya data na kebo na utengenezaji wa bidhaa za ulinzi. Inapanga kupanua zaidi kupitia uwekezaji wa dola bilioni 70 katika biashara za nishati ya kijani katika mwaka 2024.
Matokeo ya Uchunguzi wa Hindenburg yanaonesha nini kuhusu Madai ya Utapeli wa Adani?
Miongoni mwa madai yanaeleza kuwa Adani Group ilijihusisha na udanganyifu wa bei ya hisa na uhasibu kwa muda wa miongo kadhaa, na ikapata ushahidi kwamba "kampuni 7 muhimu zilizoorodheshwa ndani ya Adani Group zina upungufu wa 85% kutokana na hesabu. .” Pia ilibainika kuwa kuwa na deni kubwa linaloweka kampuni hiyo kwenye "hali mbaya ya kifedha."Ripoti inawataja wanafamilia kadha kama kaka zake Gautam Adani, Rajesh na Vinod Adani, pamoja na washirika wa Adani kwa kuhusika kwao katika kesi kubwa za hongo na ukwepaji kodi.
Wanafamilia ya Adani wamekuwa wakichunguzwa na Bodi ya Dhamana na Ubadilishanaji wa Fedha ya India (SEBI) na Kurugenzi ya Upelelezi wa Ukaguzi wakihusishwa na tuhuma za ufisadi. Ripoti ya Hindenburg pia inadai kwamba wanafamilia wa Adani wanadaiwa kushirikiana katika kuunda vyombo vya Usafirishaji wa baharini vyenye thamani ya dola bilioni 4.5 kupitia nyaraka za kughushi, hasa katika maeneo ya kulipia kodi kama vile Mauritius, UAE, na visiwa vya Caribbean.
Uchunguzi mwingine umedai kubaini matokeo ya ripoti hiyo yalitokana na mahojiano na watu kadhaa, ikiwa ni pamoja na watendaji wakuu wa zamani wa Adani Group, maelfu ya nyaraka, na taarifa za kutoka vyanzo mbalimbali katika nchi tofauti.
Mshirika wa Waziri Mkuu wa India Narendra Modi, Bw. Adani kwa muda mrefu amekuwa akikabiliwa na madai ya wanasiasa wa upinzani wanaodai kuwa amekuwa akifaidika na uhusiano wake wa kisiasa kutoka kwa kiongozi huyo, jambo ambalo Adani anakanusha.
Inaelezwa kuwa Benki nyingi za India na kampuni za bima zinazomilikiwa na serikali ama zimewekeza au kukopesha mabilioni ya dola kwa kampuni zinazohusishwa na Adani.
Katika mahojiano na Reuters, baadhi ya benki kuu za sekta ya umma nchini India zilisema hazikuwa na wasiwasi juu ya hatari zinazotokana na kufichuliwa kwao na kampuni hiyo.
Hata hivyo, Afisa mkuu wa fedha wa Adani Group Jugeshinder Singh alisema katika taarifa kwamba kampuni hiyo ilishtushwa na ripoti hiyo, na kuiita "habari potofu na tuhuma za zamani, zisizo na msingi."
Billionaire Gautam Adani has slipped from being the world’s third richest man to the seventh, after an activist investment firm released a report Tuesday accusing his company, Adani Group, of “brazen” stock manipulation and accounting fraud worth $218 billion, wiping $27.9 billion from his personal net worth since the start of the year.
Hindenburg Research, which in the past has shorted—or bet against—companies like electric truck maker Nikola Corp and Twitter, said it holds short positions in Adani companies through U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments.
Tuesday’s report sent shares of Adani Group’s flagship company and affiliates tumbling, taking a hit of more than $50 billion since then, and forcing the company to issue a strong denial of its contents.
Below, what to know about Adani and the corporate corruption allegations.
Who is Gautam Adani?
Gautam Adani is a self-made billionaire, and India’s richest man, with a net worth of roughly $118 billion as of April 2022. Much of this wealth was accumulated during the past three years through his company Adani Group, as the share prices of his key listed companies climbed, pushing the billionaire’s rank to the third-richest man in the world, behind Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.The industrialist began as a commodity trader in the 1980s before he founded his company Adani Group in 1988, eventually expanding it into a private infrastructure empire that operates ports, airports, and coal mines across India and the world. The group also has multiple subsidiaries through its data and cable centers and the manufacturing of defense goods. It plans to expand further through a $70 billion investment in green energy businesses in the coming year.
The company’s success has often been linked to lucrative government concessions, thanks to Adani’s close ties with India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. In the past, Adani has been a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for a “self-reliant India.”
What do Hindenburg’s findings reveal?
Among other allegations, the report says that Adani Group engaged in stock price manipulation and accounting fraud over the course of decades, and found evidence that the group’s “7 key listed companies have 85% downside purely on a fundamental basis owing to sky-high valuations.” It also said that substantial debt puts the group on “precarious financial footing.”The report names several family members—like Gautam Adani’s brothers, Rajesh and Vinod Adani, as well as associates of the Adani Group—for their involvement in major bribery and tax evasion cases. Members of the Adani family have been the subjects of past corruption investigations carried out by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Directorate of Review Intelligence. The Hindenburg report also claims that Adani family members allegedly cooperated in the creation of offshore shell entities worth $4.5 billion through forged documents, primarily in tax-haven jurisdictions like Mauritius, the UAE, and the Caribbean islands. Hindenburg said that SEBI was still investigating a case in Mauritius in September 2022, but that no action has been taken against the group so far.
Hindenburg said the report’s findings were based on interviews with dozens of individuals, including former senior executives at Adani Group, thousands of documents, and due diligence site visits in almost half a dozen countries.
How has the Adani Group responded to the allegations?
Adani Group’s chief financial officer Jugeshinder Singh said in an official statement Wednesday that the company was shocked by the report, calling it a “malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless, and discredited allegations.”Adani Group did not address specific allegations in its official statement but said it has always been in compliance with the law. The conglomerate also said that the timing of the report suggested malicious intent to “undermine the Adani Group’s reputation with the principal objective of damaging the upcoming follow-on Public Offering from Adani Enterprises,” referring to the group’s plans for increasing the amount of freely traded shares.
On Thursday, Adani Group said in a new statement that it is considering legal action against Hindenburg. “We are evaluating the relevant provisions under US and Indian laws for remedial and punitive action against Hindenburg Research,” said Adani Group Legal Head Jatin Jalundhwala. He added that the report created “volatility in Indian stock markets” that was “of great concern and has led to unwanted anguish for Indian citizens.”
Hindenburg has dared Adani Group to sue, saying it would open the company to further scrutiny.
The report was published days before bidding for a $2.5 billion stock sale for Adani’s secondary shares begins Friday, which will include anchor investors like the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Morgan Stanley.
One investor told the Financial Times they are “aware” of Hindenburg’s report and are “taking it into consideration.”
SOURCE: FINANCIAL TIME, BBC
ADAN GROUP RESPONSE
A company owned by Asia's richest man has hit back at a report which accused the firm of "brazen" stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
The Adani Group, founded by Gautam Adani, called the report by a US investment firm "malicious" and "selective misinformation".
The group lost almost $11bn (£8.7bn) of its market value after the research was made public on Wednesday.
It is now considering legal action against New York's Hindenburg Research.
Adani Group is one of India's biggest companies, and has operations in a wide range of industries including commodities trading, airports, utilities and renewable energy. It is led by Indian billionaire Mr Adani who is the world's fourth richest man, according to Forbes magazine.
Hindenburg, meanwhile, specialises in "short-selling", or betting against a company's share price in the expectation that it will fall.
In its report, Hindenburg accused Mr Adani of "pulling the largest con in corporate history". This came days ahead of a planned sale of Adani Group shares to the public.
The report questioned the Adani Group's ownership of companies in offshore tax havens such as Mauritius and the Caribbean. It also claimed Adani companies had "substantial debt" which put the entire group on a "precarious financial footing".
But on Thursday, Adani Group said it was evaluating "remedial and punitive action" against Hindenburg Research in the US and India.
Adani said it had always been "in compliance with all laws".
"The volatility in Indian stock markets created by the report is of great concern and has led to unwanted anguish for Indian citizens," said the group head of Adani's legal team, Jatin Jalundhwala.
"Clearly, the report and its unsubstantiated contents were designed to have a deleterious effect on the share values of Adani Group companies as Hindenburg Research, by their own admission, is positioned to benefit from a slide in Adani shares."
On Thursday, Hindenburg responded to Adani's comments, saying the firm had not addressed "a single substantive issue we had raised".
It also said it stood by its report and would "welcome" legal action, as any claim against it would be "meritless".
The group's flagship firm, Adani Enterprises, is scheduled to begin selling its shares to the public on Friday.
Political response
Opposition politicians who have long alleged that Mr Adani has benefitted because of his proximity to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been quick to react to the report."Considering that detailed research is out in the public domain, it is important that the government of India takes note of the charges made," tweeted Priyanka Chaturvedi, member of parliament and a Shiv Sena party leader.
Another popular South Indian politician, Mr KT Ramarao, called on India's investigative agencies and market regulator to open a probe into the Adani Group's operations.
But regulators are unlikely to initiate any action independently, say experts.
"The Security and Exchange Board of India [which regulates listed companies in India] will act only if there is a specific complaint sent to it. And in this case there isn't," said Shriram Subramaniam, founder and managing director of InGovern Research, a consultancy that advises investors on governance issues.
"There are many allegations in the report that have been the subject of regulatory scrutiny in the past."
The BBC contacted the market regulator but received no response.
While it appears that the decks are clear for Adani Group to proceed with its $2.4bn public share sale on Friday, the allegations in the report could put some investors off, said Ambareesh Baliga, a financial markets analyst.
But the report could have broader consequences that go beyond the Adani Group.
Andy Mukherjee, a columnist at the news service Bloomberg, said that beyond Adani, there were "many questions about the integrity of the broader Indian market, which is caught between the pressures of financial globalisation and political nationalism".
He added: "Is the Security and Exchange Board of India waiting for a public outcry to go in and clean up the market?"
