Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Swiss authorities have frozen $311 million held in six bank accounts by an alleged “frontman” for Adani, the Indian conglomerate fighting accusations of money laundering. Hindenburg Research, a US short-selling firm which has previously accused Adani of the “largest con in corporate history” by using front men to manipulate its stock market valuation, was the first to highlight the criminal investigation that started in Geneva in December 2021. The court filing doesn’t name names, but descriptions and references closely match Adani and its suspected frontman, the Taiwanese businessman Chang Chung-Ling. Chang is a long-standing associate of Vinod Adani, brother of the conglomerate’s owner, Gautam. The Adani Group has strenuously denied what it called “baseless allegations” that it’s the firm in question. When Hindenburg released its first report on Adani’s corporate structure in 2023, it wiped $150 billion off the group’s market value.
