Mahesh Jethmalani, a senior advocate, on Thursday alleged a “China Link” in the preparation of the Hindenburg report citing a notice from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The report had accused the Adani Group of fraud, resulting in a loss of over $150 billion in the company’s market value.
Jethmalani, in a post on X said, Mark Kingdon, an American businessman, allegedly colluded with the US-based short seller to prepare a report on the Adani group. Kingdon then reportedly approached Kotak Mahindra Investment Limited (KMIL) to create an offshore entity, the Kotak India Opportunity Fund (KIOF), which subsequently took significant short positions in Adani shares.
He further claimed that Kingdon’s Master Fund, which is owned by the Kingdon family, provided approximately $43 million. Notably, Kingdon’s Chinese-American wife, Anla Cheng, is also involved with the fund, according to Jethmalani’s claims.
According to the market regulator’s notice on June 26, the K India Opportunities Fund initiated short-selling positions in Adani Enterprises using futures contracts. These positions were later closed on February 22, resulting in a profit of $22 million. By June 1, Kingdon’s fund had transferred $4.1 million of the profits from the Adani short sale to Hindenburg Research.
Jethmalani made allegations that Anla Cheng serves as a lobbyist for Chinese interests in the US and has held the position of CEO at SupChina, a media initiative that he claims promotes pro-China views. He further alleged that SupChina later transformed into The China Project.
The Advocate also alleged that The China Project was shut down following calls for an investigation by US senators into its ‘subversive’ activities, which included links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He claimed that the CCP has “a bone to pick with the Adani Group”.
Jethmalani called for a thorough investigation into the following issues in his post:
- Who introduced the Kingdons to KMIL, what due diligence was conducted by KMIL regarding the Kingdons and did it participate in the short-sell as a principal?
- Did all the Indian actors – politicians, businessmen, and financial intermediaries who aided Hindenburg with the preparation of its Adani report and its publication after the short sale know about its short-selling motives and did they financially benefit from it?
- Did KMIL and the said Indian actors know about the Chinese connection behind Hindenburg?
SEBI has issued a show-cause notice to Hindenburg, demanding an explanation for alleged violations of securities market regulations connected to “prohibition of fraudulent and unfair trading practices in the securities market“.
SEBI has issued a comprehensive 46-page notice to Hindenburg Research and its founder Nathan Anderson, as well as Mark Kingdon, his associated companies, and K India Opportunities Fund, a foreign portfolio investor managed by Kotak group, demanding a response regarding alleged breaches of securities market regulations.
In reply, Hindenburg called the notice “nonsense” and “nebulous” and accusing the regulator of attempting to silence the firm. Notably, despite the significant $153 billion decline in Adani Group’s valuation following Hindenburg’s report, the short seller claimed to have made only $4 million in profit from the transaction.
In a statement, Hindenburg issued, “Sebi has neglected its responsibility, seemingly doing more to protect those perpetrating fraud than to protect the investors being victimized by it.”
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