Sebi chief and husband reject Hindenburg allegations: ‘Our life and finances are an open book’

NEW DELHI: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch have refuted allegations levelled against them by Hindenburg Searcha US-based short seller, in its recent report.
The statement came shortly after Hindenburg Research claimed the couple had stakes in “the two shadowy offshore entities used in the Adani money-siphoning scandal”.
In a joint statement, Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband strongly denied the allegations, saying: “In the context of the allegations made in the Hindenburg Report “With regard to the baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report dated 10th August 2024, we wish to state that we strongly deny the baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report. These are devoid of any truth. Our life and finances are an open book. All required disclosures have already been provided to SEBI over the years. We have no hesitation in disclosing all financial documents, including those relating to the period when we were strictly private citizens, to any authority that may request them. Further, in the interest of complete transparency, we will issue a detailed statement in due course.” The couple also expressed disappointment and accused Hindenburg of resorting to defamation in response to the regulatory action. They stressed that their lives and finances were transparent and that they had consistently provided all necessary disclosures to SEBI over the years.
“It is unfortunate that Hindenburg Research, against which SEBI has initiated enforcement action and issued a notice of termination, has chosen to attempt to defame its author in response to the same action,” the statement read.
Hindenburg Research’s latest allegations, based on documents provided by a whistleblower and investigations by other entities, claim that Book of Madhabi and Dhaval Buch had hidden stakes in the same offshore funds in Bermuda and Mauritius, which were part of a complex nested structure used by Vinod Adani. The report also mentioned that the couple had opened an account with IPE Plus Fund 1 in Singapore on June 5, 2015, with a declared net worth of $10 million.

In January 2023, Hindenburg published a report accusing the Adani Group The group had denied the allegations at the time. The Hindenburg report alleged stock market manipulation and fraud by the conglomerate, which had led to a sharp fall in the shares of several Adani group companies, estimated at more than $100 billion.