In a sharp rejoinder to SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch’s denial of conflict of interest accusations, the US-basd short seller Hindenburg Research has raised fresh questions about Ms Buch’s financial and business activities during her tenure at SEBI.
Earlier on Sunday, Ms Buch rejected the allegations made in the Hindenburg’s new report that she owned hidden stacks in offshore funds linked to Adani Group and that this may have been the reason behind the SEBI’s inaction against the conglomerate following the short-seller’s original report last year.
She rejected the Hindenburg allegations, terming them an attempt at the “character assassination” of her and her husband, Dhaval Buch.
Her response, Hindenburg said, publically confirms her investment in the obscure Bermuda/Mauritius fund structure, alongside money allegedly siphoned by Vinod Adani, the brother of Adani Group boss Gautam Adani.
The short seller said that Ms Buch has also confirmed that the fund was run by a childhood friend of her husband, who at the time was an Adani director.
“SEBI was tasked with investigating investment funds relating to the Adani matter, which would include funds Ms. Buch WAS PERSONALLY INVESTED IN and funds by the same sponsor which were specifically highlighted in our original report. This is obviously a massive conflict of interest,” the Hindenburg Research said.
In her statement, Buch asserted that the two consulting companies she had established became dormant upon her SEBI appointment in 2017.
However, Hindenburg’s response casts doubt on this claim, pointing out that her Indian consulting firm, Agora Advisory Limited, remains 99% owned by her, according to records as recent as March 31, 2024.
The firm has reportedly generated substantial revenue—INR 23.985 million (approximately $312,000)—during the financial years 2022, 2023, and 2024, while Buch was serving as SEBI Chairperson.
Moreover, Hindenburg revealed that Buch remained the sole shareholder of Agora Partners Singapore until March 2022, during her tenure as a SEBI Whole Time Member, transferring ownership to her husband only two weeks after being appointed SEBI Chairperson.
Citing whistleblower documents, Hindenburg claimed that Ms Buch conducted business activities through her husband’s name while serving as a SEBI official.
The short-seller alleged that weeks before her SEBI appointment, Buch ensured that accounts linked to Adani were registered under her husband’s name. Additionally, an email from 2018 purportedly shows that Buch redeemed stakes in funds through her husband’s name during her tenure at SEBI.
“Despite disclaiming control, a private email she sent a year into her SEBI term shows she redeemed stakes in the funds through her husband’s name, per the whistleblower documents. This raises the question: What other investments or business has the SEBI Chairperson engaged in through her husband’s name while serving in an official capacity?,” Hindenburg asked.
Referring to the SEBI chief’s promise of “complete transparency”, the short seller further said, “Given this, will she publicly release the full list of consulting clients and details of the engagements, both through the offshore Singaporean consulting firm, the Indian consulting firm and any other entity she or her husband may have an interest in…will the SEBI Chairperson commit to a full, transparent and public investigation into these issues?”