Mahesh Jethmalani Flags China Ties In Adani Short-Selling Case
Jethmalani said Anla Cheng and family were lobbyists for the Chinese Communist Party.
Rajya Sabha member and senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani said the founder of 'The China Project', with ties to the Chinese government, made a fortune short-selling shares of the Adani Group companies in early 2023 and questioned the reasons behind it.
Jethmalani said Anla Cheng and family were lobbyists for the Chinese Communist Party and made around $25 million by short-selling Adani stocks in January and February 2023.
"Did the $40 million which they invested in the Adani short sale and gains accruing from it not belong to them? Who then did it belong to? The Chinese State or a private actor?" he said.
He questioned whether foreign investor Mark Kingdon, Cheng and his family short-traded in the Indian markets before and why they chose to target Adani.
The MP said 'The China Project' shut down in November last year, on the ground that a "source of funding that it was counting on" did not come through and allegations regarding "its nefarious designs" were widespread in both China and the US making it unviable to survive only on subscriptions.
Jethmalani has called for transparency and accountability, and raised three critical demands that warrant thorough investigation in the Adani-Hindenburg case.
The markets regulator has alleged that foreign investor Kingdon Capital and its entities aided Hindenburg to indirectly participate in Adani Enterprises Ltd. by collaborating to trade in Adani Enterprise Futures and shared profits.
An investigation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India found that Hindenburg colluded with Kingdon and his entities in a scheme devised to use advance knowledge of non-public information to build short positions.
Hindenburg Research LLC, foreign investor Kingdon and his related entities made a profit of around $31.4 million by short-selling futures of Adani Enterprises, a show cause notice sent by SEBI to the short-seller said.
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