‘Vinod Adani has central role in Adani group’s nefarious activities’

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday alleged that Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani is at the centre of financial flows that leverage one group of Adani assets to send loans to another, and asked if this was not worthy of an investigation by the SEBI and the Enforcement Directorate.

Posing a set of three questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the party’s “Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun” series, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Adani group has made “misrepresentations” about Vinod Adani’s central role in its “nefarious activities.”

Recently, Adani Group stocks had taken a beating on the bourses after US-based short seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations against the business conglomerate whose chairman is Gautam Adani.

“Just because the PM is ‘Mauni Baba’ on this issue (like on Chinese incursions) it doesn’t mean we stop asking questions of him. Here is HAHK (Hum Adanike Hain Kaun)-14,” Ramesh said on Twitter and posted another set of three questions to the prime minister. In his statement addressed to Prime Minister posted on Twitter, Ramesh cited allegations made by Hindenburg Research claiming that Vinod Adani “manages a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities” that have “collectively moved billions of dollars into Indian Adani publicly listed and private entities, often without required disclosure of the related party nature of deals.”

In its January 29 reply to the charges, the Adani Group stated that “Vinod Adani does not hold any managerial position in any Adani listed entities or their subsidiaries and has no role in their day to day affairs,” Ramesh pointed out.

“Despite the Adani Group’s claims distancing itself from Vinod Adani, in repeated public filings the group has described Vinod Adani as an intrinsic part of the Adani Group. For instance, this memorandum filed with the Bombay Stock Exchange in 2020 for a Rs 400 crore debt private placement clearly states: ‘Adani Group means S.B. Adani Family Trust, Adani Properties Private Limited, Adani Tradeline LLP, Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani, Vinod S. Adani and all companies and entities controlled directly or indirectly by S.B. Adani Family Trust or Adani Properties Private Limited or Adani Tradeline LLP or Gautam Adani or Rajesh Adani or Vinod S. Adani, separately or collectively,” the Congress leader claimed in his statement.

Posing questions to Prime Minister Modi, Ramesh asked why is his “close friend lying so blatantly” to investors and to the public. “Are the various investigative agencies that you have freely deployed against political parties, media and non-subservient businesspersons ever going to be used to investigate your cronies even when they are caught red-handed?” Ramesh asked.