‘Still no SEBI, ED probe into your friend’s lies?’

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh (centre) with party leaders K C Venugopal and Tariq Anwar, at AICC HQ, in Delhi, on Sunday. Pic/ANI

The Congress on Sunday said 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.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh cited allegations made by Hindenburg Research claiming that Vinod "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 the deals".

On January 29, the Adani Group claimed 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, in a statement posted on Twitter and addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Adani Group's acquisition of Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd, which the conglomerate announced on September 16 last year, Ramesh said, "The acquirer's SEBI filing stated in no uncertain terms that ‘the ultimate beneficial ownership of the acquirer is held by Mr. Vinod Shantilal Adani and Mrs. Ranjanben Vinod Adani'. Is it not a laughable falsehood for the Adani Group to now distance itself from Vinod Adani?"

Also Read: Adani row: JPC needed, Modi govt hiding facts, says Congress leader Pawan Khera

"An Australian investigation has shown that Vinod Adani's Pinnacle Trade and Investment, based in Singapore, controls a number of Adani Group assets in Australia. In 2020, Pinnacle entered into a $240 million loan agreement with Russia's now sanctioned VTB Bank, and then went on to lend $235 million to a related party, likely connected to the Adani Group, according to Forbes magazine," Ramesh alleged.

"Is this not worthy of investigation by SEBI and the Enforcement Directorate?" the Congress general secretary said.
"Last summer, one of Vinod's companies, Endeavour Trade and Investment Ltd., served as the Adani Group's acquisition vehicle for its $10.5 billion takeover of Swiss firm Holcim's stakes in Indian cement companies Ambuja Cements Limited and ACC Limited, according to Ambuja's public filing. The deal made the Adani Group India's second largest cement company," reads a recent report by Forbes.

Posing questions to Modi, Ramesh asked why is his "close friend lying so blatantly" to investors and to the public.

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