Hindenburg Effect Still On! Vinod Adani Steps Down From 3 Foreign Companies Amid Rising Scrutiny

It's been more than three months since Hindenburg research's report came out to rattle the Adani group. Even after making the conglomerate's stocks bleed, it seems that the damage is far from over.

Among the long list of questions raised by Hindenburg's research report, the US-based short seller had also targeted Gautam Adani's older brother Vinod Adani, who has been quietly playing a powerful role in the group.

Vinod Adani Steps Down

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In what is being seen as the Hindenburg report's effect, rising scrutiny regarding Adani group's offshore transactions has resulted in Gautam Adani¡¯s older brother Vinod stepping down as director of three foreign companies ¡ª Carmichael Rail and Port Singapore, Carmichael Rail Singapore and Abbot Point Terminal Expansion - connected to the family's coal mines in Australia, in late February as pressure mounted on Adani group, a Bloomberg report said.

He, however, remains on the board of Abbot Point Port Holdings, a Singapore-based company. Vinod's resignation happened just days before the Supreme Court ordered a committee to probe if regulators had failed to oversee Adani Group. Meanwhile, India's market regulator SEBI too is examining whether some transactions between the group and Vinod were properly disclosed, the report added.

Vinod Adani, besides being a shareholder of certain entities, had no management role in the development of the Carmichael mine or its related infrastructure, Bloomberg had reported earlier quoting an Adani Group representative.

Hindenburg¡¯s January 24 report claimed that dozens of shell companies controlled by Vinod had moved billions of dollars in and out of Adani Group companies, seemingly to embellish shares and results, as per ET.

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Also Read: Hindenburg Trolled For Failing To Detect SVB Crisis

Adani Group Rejected Questions Around Vinod

Adani Group acknowledged that Vinod is part of the promoter group and said it made all required disclosures. It mostly rejected questions about his business affairs, saying they¡¯re irrelevant given he¡¯s not a manager at the group¡¯s public companies or their subsidiaries.

Vinod reportedly has a cabin in the Dubai office of Adani Global, a commodity distributor owned by one of the family¡¯s listed firms, and spends two or three hours daily there. Until recently, few had heard of Gautam Adani¡¯s 74-year-old brother. He¡¯s believed to have made a fortune trading commodities and runs a family investment office in Dubai. Vinod Adani's current net worth as per Forbes is $10.2 billion.

Over the years, Vinod has reportedly been involved in some of Adani Group¡¯s largest undertakings, from acquisitions of cement companies to green energy, with Carmichael being one of the longest-running examples of the same.

Also Read: How Adani-Hindenburg Row Has Put Spotlight On Mauritius Being The Tax Haven For India's Billionaires

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