Adani Group stocks fall; Adani Green Energy declines over 4 pc
New Delhi (PTI): Shares of Adani group stocks fell on Thursday after a report from investigative reporting platform OCCRP alleged hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in publicly traded group stocks through Mauritius-based 'opaque' investment funds managed by partners of promoter family of billionaire Gautam Adani.
However, the conglomerate denied the charges vehemently.
On the BSE, the stock of Adani Green Energy nosedived 4.43 per cent to Rs 927.65 apiece, with a market capitalisation of Rs 1.47 lakh crore.
The scrip of Adani Power plunged 3.82 per cent to Rs 315.85, flagship firm Adani Enterprises declined 3.56 per cent to Rs 2,424 and Adani Energy Solutions fell 3.18 per cent to Rs 814.95 apiece on the bourse.
Also, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) slipped 2.75 per cent to Rs 796.50, Adani Total Gas dipped 2.74 per cent to Rs 634.60, NDTV fell 2.69 per cent to Rs 213.30 and Adani Wilmar declined 1.83 per cent to Rs 362.20 per piece on the BSE.
Shares of ACC dipped 3.15 per cent to Rs 1,937.10 and Ambuja Cements fell 2.84 per cent to Rs 431.60.
In the morning session, the 30-shares BSE Sensex was trading 38.32 points or 0.06 per cent lower at 65,048.93 points.
The fresh allegations by an organisation funded by likes of George Soros and Rockefeller Brothers Fund come months after a US short seller wiped away close to USD 150 billion in value of Adani group stocks with allegations of accounting fraud, stock price manipulation and improper use of tax havens by the ports-to-energy conglomerate run by billionaire Gautam Adani. Adani Group has denied all Hindenburg allegations.
Citing review of files from multiple tax havens and internal Adani Group emails, OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) said its investigation found at least two cases where the "mysterious" investors bought and sold Adani stock through such offshore structures.
The two men, Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling, who OCCRP claimed have longtime business ties to the Adani family and have also served as directors and shareholders in Group companies and firms associated with Gautam Adani's elder brother Vinod Adani, "spent years buying and selling Adani stock through offshore structures that obscured their involvement - and made considerable profits in the process."
The documents "show that the management company in charge of their investments paid a Vinod Adani company to advice them in their investment", it alleged.
Adani in a statement categorically rejected what it called as "recycled allegations", calling them "yet another concerted bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report".
"These claims are based on closed cases from a decade ago when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) probed allegations of over invoicing, transfer of funds abroad, related party transactions and investments through FPIs. An independent adjudicating authority and an appellate tribunal had both confirmed that there was no over-valuation and that the transactions were in accordance with applicable law. The matter attained finality in March 2023 when the Supreme Court of India ruled in our favour. Clearly, since there was no over-valuation, there is no relevance or foundation for these allegations on transfer of funds," it said.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
