On August 10, Hindenburg Research reported that whistleblower documents claim Madhabi Buch, chairperson of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and her husband, Dhaval Buch, owned stakes in offshore entities linked to the Adani Group's money siphoning scandal.

"We had previously noted Adani’s total confidence in continuing to operate without the risk of serious regulatory intervention, suggesting that this may be explained through Adani’s relationship with SEBI Chairperson, Madhabi Buch," the report added.

"What we hadn’t realized: the current SEBI Chairperson and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had hidden stakes in the exact same obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, found in the same complex nested structure, used by Vinod Adani," Hindenburg stated. Vinod Adani is brother of Gautam Adani.

Madhabi Puri Buch could not be immediately reached for a comment. 

According to the report, Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch first appear to have opened their account with IPE Plus Fund 1 on June 5th, 2015 in Singapore, per whistleblower documents. 

A declaration of funds, signed by a principal at IIFL states that the source of the investment is “salary” and the couple's net worth is estimated at $10 million.

Madhabi Buch was appointed as a whole-time member of SEBI in 2017, and she was elevated as SEBI chairperson in March 2022. 

The report added that just weeks before Buch’s appointment to SEBI, her husband wrote to Mauritius fund administrator Trident Trust, regarding his and his wife’s investment in the Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund (GDOF). 

In the letter, Dhaval Buch requested to “be the sole person authorised to operate the Accounts”, seemingly moving the assets out of his wife’s name ahead of the politically sensitive appointment, Hindenburg claimed citing whistleblower's documents.

The couple's investments were reportedly channeled through a complicated offshore structure, raising questions about their legitimacy and purpose.

"In a later account statement dated February 26th, 2018, addressed to Madhabi Buch's private email, the full details of the structure are revealed: "GDOF Cell 90 (IPEplus Fund 1)". Again, this is the exact same Mauritius-registered "cell" of the fund, found several layers deep in a convoluted structure, reportedly used by Vinod Adani," Hindenburg alleged.

Later, on February 25th, 2018, during Buch’s tenure as a Whole-Time Member of SEBI, whistleblower documents show, she personally wrote to India Infoline using her private Gmail account, doing business through her husband’s name, to redeem the units in the fund.

Hindenburg reported that SEBI’s unwillingness to take meaningful action against suspect offshore shareholders in the Adani Group may stem from Chairperson Madhabi Buch’s complicity in using the exact same funds used by Vinod Adani. 

The report also added Madhabi Buch's role in promoting Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in India, an asset class significantly benefiting Blackstone, where her husband serves as a senior advisor.

“Conflict or capture? Either way, we do not think SEBI can be trusted as an objective arbiter in the Adani matter,” Hindenburg concluded.

The latest Hindenburg report adds to a series of accusations against the Adani Group, a conglomerate previously accused of stock manipulation and financial misconduct in a January 2023 report by the same research firm. This earlier report triggered a sharp drop in Adani’s stock prices, erasing more than $100 billion in market value.