Adani-Hiranandani-Hindenberg: Cash-for-query tainted MP Mahua lists 13 questions for SEBI chief

Moitra, the 49-year-old MP from Krishnanagar, posted 13 pointed questions directed at the SEBI chief on her X (formerly Twitter) account.

| Updated: 11 August, 2024 2:54 pm IST

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra, currently under investigation by the CBI and ED for alleged involvement in the Adani-Hiranandani cash-for-questions scandal, took to social media on Sunday to once again target the Adani Group. This comes after accusations by short-seller firm Hindenburg Research against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest.

Moitra, the 49-year-old MP from Krishnanagar, posted 13 pointed questions directed at the SEBI chief on her X (formerly Twitter) account. She demanded clarity on his financial ties and investments, particularly in connection with the Adani Group. Her questions touched on various aspects of the SEBI chief’s alleged financial dealings, including investments in funds linked to Vinod Adani, relationships with Agora Partners, and potential conflicts of interest while serving as a whole-time member of SEBI.

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Among her questions, Moitra asked:

1. Did you invest in IPEplus Fund 1 in 2015 being a part of Global Development Opportunities Fund, a part of Global Opportunities Fund used by Vinod Adani?

2. When did you cease to have a stake in this fund?

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3. Was Anil Ahuja, former director of Adani Enterprises/Adani Power a part of this fund?

4. Did you disclose to SEBI your ownership stakes when you were whole-time member of SEBI?

5. When you were wholetime director of SEBI, did you ever have a shareholding in Agora Partners in Singapore or Agora Partners in India?

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6. Did you disclose this shareholding and the incomes and revenues received?

7. Which entities gave business to Agora?

8. Did you sell/transfer your shareholding in Agora to your husband in 2022?

9. Which entities continue to give business to Agora Singapore or Agora India?

10. Have you disclosed to SEBI that your husband has joined Blackstone which is one of the largest stakeholders of the REIT ecosystem?

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11. How many direct meetings either as an individual or as a group did you take with people either from the Adani group or from Blackstone or from associations where Adani or Blackstone are participants?

12. Before stating to the Supreme Court that SEBI “had drawn a blank”, did you inform the committee / supreme court that the some of the funds that you were tasked to investigate were infact part of the same entity that you had invested in to?

13. Did you recuse yourself from the investigation?

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The controversy began in January 2023 when Hindenburg Research accused Gautam Adani, a key figure in the scandal, of using offshore funds to inflate stock prices within his group. These allegations have continued to fuel political and public debate, especially given Adani’s perceived close ties to the ruling establishment.