Hindenburg 2.0? George Soros-backed OCCRP said to be planning another 'expose'
New Delhi, (PTI): Months after a US short seller shook markets with a damning report on the Adani group, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) - an organisation funded by likes of George Soros and Rockefeller Brothers Fund - is said to be planning another 'expose' on certain corporate houses in India, sources said. OCCRP, which calls itself "an investigative reporting platform formed by 24 nonprofit investigative centres... spread across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, may publish a report or a series of articles, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
An email sent to OCCRP seeking comments remained unanswered. Founded in 2006, OCCRP claims to specialise in reporting on organised crime and largely publishes these news articles through partnerships with media houses.
On its website, it identifies the Open Society Foundations of George Soros, a financier with a penchant for funding radical causes around the world, as one of the institutional donors. Others include Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Oak Foundation.
Sources said the 'expose' may involve overseas funds investing in the stocks of the corporate house.
The identity of the corporate house wasn't immediately known but agencies are said to be keeping a tight vigil on the capital market.
Hindenburg Research in a January 24 report alleged accounting fraud, stock price manipulation and improper use of tax havens, triggering a stock market rout that had erased close to USD 150 billion in the market value at its lowest point.
Adani Group has denied all allegations.
In May this year, a Supreme Court-appointed expert committee to investigate claims in the Hindenburg Report stated that there was evidence of a build-up in short positions on Adani Group stocks ahead of the release of the Hindenburg report. Profits were earned from squaring off positions after prices crashed post-publication of the damning allegations.
Financial crime-fighting agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) "found intelligence about potentially violative and concerted selling by specific parties just ahead of the publication of the Hindenburg report, and this may lead to credible charges of concerted destabilisation of the Indian markets, and Sebi ought to be probing such actions under securities laws," it had said citing a response from ED.
Suspicious trading was observed on the part of six entities. Of these, four are FPIs, one body corporate and one individual, it had said.
Soon after the Hindenburg report, Soros had stated that the turmoil at Gautam Adani's business empire may weaken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hold on the government - a statement which was strongly countered by BJP as an attack on Indian democracy.
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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.
