Majority of Adani group stocks settle lower; Adani Power drops nearly 3%

As many as seven Adani group stocks ended lower on Friday as the Swiss authorities froze USD 311 million (Rs 2,610 crore) held by a Taiwanese resident in multiple Swiss bank accounts as part of a money laundering probe, suspecting he may be a frontman from the group -- a charge the conglomerate vehemently denied. Shares of Adani Power dropped 2.73 per cent, Adani Energy Solutions declined 2.42 per cent, Adani Ports slipped 1.37 per cent, Adani Green Energy went lower by 1.17 per cent, Adani Enterprises dipped 0.76 per cent, Adani Total Gas (0.55 per cent) and Adani Wilmar (0.37 per cent) on the BSE.

However, three group firms managed to settle in the green. The stock of ACC jumped 1.94 per cent, NDTV climbed 1.01 per cent and Ambuja Cements (0.01 per cent).

During the day, shares of Adani Power tumbled 3.20 per cent, Adani Energy dived 2.75 per cent, Adani Green declined 1.53 per cent, Adani Ports went down by 1.51 per cent, Adani Enterprises fell 1.18 per cent, Adani Wilmar (1.07 per cent), Adani Total (0.89 per cent), NDTV (0.57 per cent), Ambuja Cements (0.54 per cent) and ACC (0.46 per cent).

Swiss authorities have frozen USD 311 million (Rs 2,610 crore) held by a Taiwanese resident in multiple Swiss bank accounts as part of money laundering probe, suspecting he may be a frontman from the Adani group -- a charge the conglomerate vehemently denied saying it was neither involved in any Swiss court proceedings nor any of its accounts are subject to sequestration.

US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, which had last year targeted the Adani group in a damning report that led to wiping away of USD 150 billion in market value of listed firms of the conglomerate in the following weeks, in a post on X cited "newly released Swiss criminal records reported by Swiss media outlet" to state that "Swiss authorities have frozen more than $310 million in funds across multiple Swiss bank accounts as part of a money laundering and securities forgery investigation into Adani, dating back as early as 2021."

"Prosecutors detailed how an Adani frontman invested in opaque BVI/Mauritius & Bermuda funds that almost exclusively owned Adani stocks," it said citing the report.

Adani group rejected the allegations as baseless, saying it had no involvement in any Swiss court proceedings.

"We unequivocally reject and deny the baseless allegations presented. The Adani Group has no involvement in any Swiss court proceedings, nor have any of our company accounts been subject to sequestration by any authority," it said.

The Swiss media outlet Gotham City in its report stated that a ruling by the Federal Criminal Court (FCC) reveals that the Geneva Public Prosecutor's Office was investigating alleged wrongdoing and more than USD 310 million belonging to an alleged frontman for billionaire Gautam Adani have been sequestered in five Swiss banks over the last three years.

The Swiss investigators suspect that the associate, Chang Chung-Ling, is not the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) of the company under investigation, but a mere front.

The Adani Group, however, said that the court order was not linked to them and they have not been mentioned in it.

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