Adani stocks fall on fraud, manipulation claims

Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani saw his net worth drop $6 billion on Wednesday after a US investment firm accused him of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud”. Adani, 60, is the world’s third-richest person, with an estimated fortune of around $120bn and interests ranging from Australian coal mines to India’s busiest ports. But the magnate was the biggest loser on Forbes’ real-time billionaires list on Wednesday, dropping nearly five per cent -- or $6.4bn -- of his net worth overnight as investors rushed to sell shares in his group of companies. Hindenburg Research published a report on Tuesday alleging that Adani Group “has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades”. The firm said it had taken a short position in Adani Group companies after a two-year investigation based on interviews with former executives, site visits in multiple countries and document reviews. Its report claims that Adani’s elder brother Vinod “manages a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities” in tax havens including Mauritius, Cyprus and several Caribbean islands.