SEBI Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch has been accused of having stakes in an offshore company linked to the Adani Group.
SEBI Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch did not attend the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting on Thursday (October 24) due to “urgent reasons”. This was the second time Butch had been invited to appear before the committee.
The meeting, chaired by Congress leader KC Venugopal, was to review the operations of the market regulator (SEBI). The meeting was postponed after Butch and other SEBI officials were unavailable.
The PAC had summoned Buch today amid conflict of interest allegations made by U.S. short seller Hindenburg. He was also accused of receiving salaries from three places, including ICICI Bank, while he was associated with SEBI.
SEBI chief could not come to Delhi due to personal emergency
Congress leader KC Venugopal said, “At 9:30 am, we received information from the SEBI chief and other members that he was unable to travel to Delhi due to a personal emergency. In such a situation, we have decided to postpone today’s meeting. .
Two allegations against SEBI chief
1. SEBI Head of an offshore company linked to the Adani group equity
The American company Hindenburg Research published a report on Saturday August 19. Based on whistleblower documents, Hindenburg had claimed that Butch and her husband held stakes in the Mauritian offshore company “Global Dynamic Opportunity Fund”.
Hindenburg alleged that Vinod Adani, brother of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, invested billions of dollars in the ‘Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund’. This money was used to drive up the share price of the Adani group.
Madhabi Butch had denied the allegations
Madhavi Buch had termed the allegations against her in the Hindenburg report as baseless and an attempt at defamation. The SEBI chairman expressed his willingness to declare all financial documents. In a joint statement with her husband Dhaval Butch, she said: “Our life and finances are an open book.
2. Allegation of receiving salary from 3 places including ICICI bank while being associated with SEBI
Two months ago, Congress spokesperson Pawan Kheda, in a press conference, had accused Madhavi of receiving salaries from three places, including ICICI Bank, while she was associated with SEBI. Kheda said, “Madhabi Puri Buch was a full-time member of SEBI from April 5, 2017 to October 4, 2021. Then on March 2, 2022, Madhabi Puri Buch became the Chairman of SEBI.
Khera had claimed that Madhabi Puri Buch, as a full-time member of SEBI, received regular income from ICICI bank, which amounted to Rs 16.80 crore.