June 23 (Reuters) – The U.S Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York, has sent inquiries in recent months to investors with large holdings in Adani Group, focused on what the Indian ports-to-power giant told them, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also has a similar probe underway, Bloomberg reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
The authorities are looking into the representations that Adani made to its American investors following short-seller Hindenburg’s report, the Bloomberg report said.
“We are not aware of any such subpoena to investors,” an Adani spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
The group rejects any suggestion that it or its businesses have not acted as per the regulations and accounting standards of the jurisdictions in which they operate, they added.
“Our various issuer groups remain confident that the disclosures are full and complete as disclosed in the relevant issuer offering circulars,” the spokesperson said.
In January, Hindenburg Research said it held short positions in the group and accused the conglomerate of improper use of offshore tax havens. The short-seller also flagged concerns about high debt, eroding $11 billion in investor wealth.
The Adani group has rejected all the allegations.
India’s markets watchdog had, in May, “drawn a blank” in its investigations into suspected violations in the group’s overseas investments and a Supreme Court-appointed panel said its ongoing pursuit of the case could be a “journey without a destination”.
The SEC said it does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation. The Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the report.
The U.S. Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Source : Reuters
