Pandora Papers probe confirms Adani group links with shell companies used for investment in Adani stocks: Report

Adani group used offshore funding to invest in its own stocks, claimed OCCRP in its latest report. The offshore shell companies mentioned by the Financial Times report as tool for secret investment in Adani stocks are indeed linked to the Indian conglomerate, reported Indian Express citing inputs from the records accessed under its Pandora Papers investigation.

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In its report, Financial Times mentioned two offshore shell companies registered in British Virgin Islands (BVI) as the main tool to invest in Adani stocks. The two shell firms are linked with Adani group, reported Indian Express.

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The English daily had accessed the records of offshore corporate service provider Trident Trust under the Pandora Papers investigation with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

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Two individuals involved in the offshore funding, ie United Arab Emirates national Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Taiwan national Chang Chung-Ling , were associates of Adani Group chairperson Gautam Adani's brother Vinod Adani, claimed OCCRP report.

The international organisation of investigative journalists claimed that Adani Group used ‘opaque’ Mauritius funds to invest in its own stocks. After the report was first published by The Guardian and Financial Times on Thursday, it was dragged down the market value of the 10 Adani group stocks by ₹35,210 crore.

The report claimed that the Ali and Chang are the two associates of Vinod Adani, the elder brother of Adani Group, and founder Gautam Adani. The two business leaders are alleged to have created a comples web of structures within a foreign fund based in Bermuda to trade in Adani stocks. The two began to pump in money in Adani stocks in  2013. Since then they earned huge profit by trading Adani stocks. If Ali and Chang are considered to be Adani associates, then the company's promoter shareholding surpasses the maximum percentage of 75%.

What is Pandora Papers leak?

The Pandora Papers leak is considered as one of the biggest expose of several political leaders business tycoons, and influential personalities across the world. Under the expose, around 11.9 million documents with 2.9 terabytes of data were leaked by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The series of documents began to be published on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 world leaders, including former presidents and current leaders, and even prime ministers. ai