Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Adani Group, MP (Rajya Sabha) and Senior Advocate (Supreme Court) Mahesh Jethmalani has accused Congress leader Jairam Ramesh of spreading misinformation and undermining an Indian multinational corporation in favour of Chinese interests. Jethmalani’s revelations on social media platform X suggest a complex international plot involving short selling, geopolitical manoeuvres, and strategic financial attacks on the Adani Group.
Jethmalani’s exposé on social media platform X alleges that Hindenburg Research, known for its critical reports on corporations, was hired by American businessman Mark Kingdon to prepare a damaging report on the Adani Group. This report was part of a broader strategy to profit from short-selling Adani shares, facilitated through a network of financial and political actors connected to Chinese interests.
Key Points from Jethmalani’s Revelations
1. Hindenburg’s Commission:
Mark Kingdon engaged Hindenburg Research, a U.S.-based research agency, to produce a report critical of the Adani Group. This report was allegedly pivotal in initiating a concerted effort to short-sell Adani shares, aiming to capitalise on the negative impact of the report on the company’s stock value.
2. Kotak’s Role:
Mark Kingdon reportedly approached Kotak’s International Investment arm (KMIL) to facilitate offshore accounts and a fund for trading Adani shares. This led to the creation of the Kotak India Opportunity Fund (KIOF), which purportedly took substantial short positions in Adani shares via routes through Mauritius. The funding for these trades, totalling $40 million, allegedly originated from Kingdon’s Master Fund.
3. Anla Cheng’s Influence:
A critical aspect of Jethmalani’s allegations involves Anla Cheng, Mark Kingdon’s wife, described as a prominent lobbyist for Chinese interests in the U.S. Cheng was formerly CEO of SupChina, a media initiative accused of promoting Chinese propaganda. After facing whistleblower allegations and calls for an investigation by U.S. senators, SupChina was rebranded as The China Project before being shut down. Cheng’s ties to Chinese interests raise significant questions about the motivations behind the Hindenburg report and its subsequent impact on Adani Group’s financial standing.
For those who want to learn about accomplished #Chinese spy #AnlaCheng who along with her husband #MarkKingdon hired #Hindenburg for a research report on #Adani, engaged the services of Kotak to facilitate a trading account to short sell Adani shares; who made millions of dollars… pic.twitter.com/XhA9lfMFE2
— Mahesh Jethmalani (@JethmalaniM) July 5, 2024
Demand for Thorough Investigation
Jethmalani has called for a comprehensive investigation into several critical areas:
Introduction and Due Diligence: How were the Kingdons introduced to KMIL? What due diligence did KMIL conduct regarding the Kingdons, and did KMIL participate in the short sell as a principal?
Involvement of Indian Actors: Did the Indian actors, including politicians, businessmen, and financial intermediaries who assisted Hindenburg in preparing and publishing the report, know about the short-selling motives? Did they financially benefit from it?
Knowledge of Chinese Connection: Did KMIL and the involved Indian actors know about the Chinese connection behind Hindenburg’s report?
Here’s a huge smoking gun in the sordid episode of the short sale of #Adani shares by #Hindenburg. Pursuant to #SEBI's notice to Hindenburg, the following facts emerge:
1. Hindenburg – a research agency – was hired by American businessman #MarkKingdon to prepare a report on the… https://t.co/yar0uEuarm— Mahesh Jethmalani (@JethmalaniM) July 4, 2024
Criticism of Jairam Ramesh and the Congress Party
Jethmalani’s detailed post directly challenges Jairam Ramesh’s earlier statements on X, in which Ramesh criticised the Adani Group and SEBI’s investigations. Jethmalani accused Ramesh and the Congress party of launching a campaign not against crony capitalism but rather to undermine an Indian corporation that had strategically outmanoeuvred Chinese interests in various international projects.
Jethmalani further explained that Mark Kingdon and Anla Cheng’s financial manoeuvres significantly eroded the market capitalisation of the Adani Group, causing substantial harm to Indian retail investors. He emphasised that these actions were part of a broader strategy to promote Chinese strategic interests by damaging an Indian competitor.
Here is our detailed statement on today's Supreme Court verdict on matters related to SEBI investigations into certain transactions of the Adani Group.
Our fight for NYAY against crony capitalism and its ill-effects on prices, employment and inequalities will continue even more… pic.twitter.com/cxx4QgalZq
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) January 3, 2024
Jethmalani’s allegations come after a heated political debate surrounding the Adani Group.
On January 4, in response to Jairam Ramesh’s post on X regarding the Supreme Court verdict on SEBI’s investigations into the Adani Group, Jethmalani had already labelled Ramesh a “consummate liar.” He accused the Congress party, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and guided by Ramesh, of being agents for Chinese strategic interests,” #JairamRamesh is a consummate liar. The #INC attack on the #Adani group was not an attack on “crony capitalism” but a campaign to undermine an Indian multinational that had successfully on merit thwarted Chinas global outreach by winning contracts against Chinese bids for coal projects near Jaffna in #SriLanka, rendering the #ChinaStone project in Australias #GalileeBasin near Adani’s coal project unviable by scaling down its rail line construction plan so that it would not serve the Chinese plant ,and outbidding China for the purchase of a port in Israel’s #Haifa. In sum the #INC under #RahulGandhi & mentor Jairam is a contractual agent (if I’m wrong let’s have that MOU in the public domain Jairam) for promoting Chinese strategic interests and sabotaging Indian corporates that serve India’s geopolitical aims”.
#JairamRamesh is a consummate liar. The #INC attack on the #Adani group was not an attack on “crony capitalism” but a campaign to undermine an Indian multinational that had successfully on merit thwarted Chinas global outreach by winning contracts against Chinese bids for coal… https://t.co/isxQKwW0JU
— Mahesh Jethmalani (@JethmalaniM) January 3, 2024
Strategic International Projects:
- Jethmalani highlighted several instances where the Adani Group had successfully thwarted Chinese interests:
- Winning contracts for coal projects near Jaffna in Sri Lanka.
- Rendering the China Stone project in Australia’s Galilee Basin unviable by scaling down its rail line construction plan.
- Outbidding China for the purchase of a port in Israel’s Haifa.
These strategic victories against Chinese bids positioned the Adani Group as a significant player in global markets, directly challenging Chinese geopolitical ambitions.
In a scathing remark, Jethmalani accused the Congress party, under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership and guided by Ramesh, of acting as agents for Chinese strategic interests. He pointed to instances where the Adani Group had successfully competed against Chinese bids for strategic projects, including coal projects in Sri Lanka, the China Stone project in Australia’s Galilee Basin, and purchasing a port in Israel’s Haifa.
On January 24, 2023, Nathan Andersen’s Hindenburg Research, a controversial short-seller, released a scathing report targeting the Adani Group, treating it as synonymous with the Indian economy. The report was filled with a range of vague and framed accusations, including conspiracy theories linking Adani to the arrests and murders of journalists, stock manipulation, accounting fraud, and concerns over the group’s leverage and valuations.
The immediate fallout was severe: within two days, the Adani Group’s stocks plummeted, losing Rs 4 lakh crores in market capitalization. The timing of the Hindenburg report, just before Adani’s largest-ever public issue, appeared calculated to sabotage Adani Enterprises Ltd., the group’s flagship company. The repercussions were felt across the Indian stock market, triggering a broad-based sell-off that left many top 500 companies in the red. For two successive days, the stock indices suffered significant losses, and the Indian stock markets fell out of the top five equity markets globally.
This attack on Adani had far-reaching consequences, not only damaging the valuations of many other prominent companies and banks but also undermining the credibility of Indian companies and the economy as a whole. The report aimed to create doubt and cast aspersions on the integrity of Indian firms, thereby hindering their fund-raising capabilities and options.
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