US short-seller Hindenburg Research has brought a Chinese angle and has dismissed the charge that its report on Adani Group's malfeasance was a "calculated attack" on India, saying a "fraud" cannot be obfuscated by nationalism or a bloated response that ignored key allegations.
Hindenburg has pointed out that the Adani Group has not even attempted to clarify its relationship with a Chinese national (Chang Chung-Ling), despite a plethora of linkages. It had asked in its reply What is the nature of Chang Chung-Ling’s relationship with the Adani Group, including his relationship with Vinod Adani?
"An entity (Gudami International) run by Chang Chung Ling (aka Lingo Chang) was said to have been part of a massive corruption scheme in the AgustaWestland Scandal, one of India’s largest and ongoing bribery scandals. The son of Chang Chung Ling is the beneficial owner of the major contractor to the Adani Group called PMC Projects, mentioned above," according to a reply by Hindenburg.
Hindenburg in its report said, In 2002, Adani Exports (later renamed Adani Enterprises) disclosed that an entity Gudami International (“Gudami”) was a related party, likely because it shared a director and key common shareholder with Adani Global.
Key allegations put by Hindenburg Research against Adani Group on Chang Chung-Ling
Hindenburg in its report states that Chang Chung-Ling’s name appears in a 2014 Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) report detailing a scheme alleging that the Adani Group siphoned cash from its publicly listed companies. He served as a director of Electrogen Infra Holding Pvt. Ltd., an Adani private company that was part of a complex scheme to siphon funds out of Adani Enterprises and Adani Power, per DRI investigative records. The day he resigned as director, he was replaced by Vinod Adani.
That Gudami director/shareholder is a man named Chang Chung-Ling, who has been described in a DRI criminal investigation as a director of multiple Adani entities. [Pg. 179] Chang Chung-Ling continues to have close links and connections to Adani Group (as we detail in part 2).[17]
Chang Chung-Ling was also a director, together with Vinod Adani, in an Adani private entity based in Singapore called Adani Global Limited, per Adani Enterprises’ annual report. Taiwanese media reports describe Chang Chung-Ling as a key Adani shareholder and close business partner. Corporate records cited in that investigation show that Chang Chung-Ling shared the same residential address as Vinod Adani: 75, Meyer Road, #17-01, Hawaii Tower. The records were dated around 2005.
They asked a question on why a once-related party entity of Adani called Gudami International, headed by close Adani associate Chang Chung-Ling, invested heavily in one of the Monterosa funds allocated to Adani Enterprises and Adani Power. Monterosa entities continue as key Mauritius shareholders in Adani companies. What is Adani’s explanation for this large, concentrated investment into Adani-listed companies by a related-party entity? What is the nature of Chang Chung-Ling’s relationship with the Adani Group, including his relationship with Vinod Adani?
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