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Greetings from Amsterdam,

Earlier this year, the third-largest conglomerate in India, Adani Group, brushed off accusations that it committed serious financial crimes.

Yesterday, OCCRP, the Guardian, the Financial Times, and other partners published an investigation that brings new insight into these allegations against the politically connected firm.

Our story about Adani, which has caused quite a stir in India, will take up a substantial part of this newsletter. Below that, you can find additional important news and reporting in the fight against corruption.

Here we go,


** NEW INVESTIGATIONS
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Fresh Insight Into Allegations of Stock Manipulation That Rocked India’s Powerful ‘Adani Group’
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Documents exclusively obtained by OCCRP reveal key details about one of largest scandals in modern India — that Adani Group, a group of companies with close ties to the government, had allegedly engaged in stock manipulation.

Not Familiar with Adani Group?
Some background about a complicated situation…

What is Adani Group? The massive group of companies is led by Gautam Adani, at one point the world’s third-richest man and an ally of Prime Minister Narendi Modi, whose government has awarded Adani Group lucrative contracts. The group has interests in everything from airports to television stations.

What is Hindenburg Research? The U.S.-based short seller is known for predicting and profiting from unexpected financial downturns of global corporations. In January, it made some striking allegations about Adani Group.

What Did Hindenburg Allege About Adani? The short seller issued a scathing report claiming that Adani Group had spent decades engaged in “brazen stock manipulation” and “accounting fraud.”

In part, Hindenburg accused some of Adani’s key “public” investors of being Adani insiders. This would be a violation of Indian securities law, which requires at least 25 percent of a publicly traded company’s stock to be available to the public for purchase.

What Happened After the Hindenburg Allegations? A court-appointed committee investigated the accusations. During that investigation, it emerged that India’s financial regulator had also been looking into the Adani Group.

But the probes stalled in part because a web of offshore entities was used to disguise the ultimate owners of the stock.

Adani Group has denied wrongdoing, calling the allegations “baseless and unsubstantiated.”

Our reporting reveals that two businessmen close to the Adani family — Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling — have spent years trading hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Adani Group stock.

Chang and Ahli are more than family friends. Both appear as directors and shareholders of companies affiliated with the Adani family.

On top of that, we found evidence that members of the Adani family may have coordinated the share purchases made by Chang and Ahli.

🌐 The Big Picture: This story does not only affect investors. It has serious political implications as well. Adani has grown from under $8 billion in market capitalization in 2013 — the year before Modi became prime minister — to $260 billion last year. Opposition politicians allege this explosive growth is the result of preferential treatment from the Modi government.

🤔 Our Data & Sources: This story is based on documents from tax havens, internal Adani emails and bank records, as well as interviews with sources familiar with the Adani Group’s business.

>> Read the full story ([link removed])
Join the fight against corruption.
SUPPORT OCCRP ([link removed])

Hugo Chávez’s Nurse Stashed Gold Bars in a Secret Vault in Europe, Investigators Allege. Here’s Who They Say Helped Her.

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Meet Claudia Díaz. First, she was Hugo Chavez’s nurse. Then she served as Venezuela’s national treasurer. Now she’s in a U.S. prison for laundering millions.

But at least some of Diaz’s fortune is still out there — and she didn’t stash it by herself. We found two men in Europe who allegedly helped Diaz hide gold bars worth $9.5 million in a secret vault.

🌐 The Big Picture: This investigation shows how unknown people are often instrumental in helping big names conceal their illicit fortunes.

>> Read the full story ([link removed])


** ATTACK ON THE OCCRP NETWORK
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🇰🇬 Kloop: Prosecutors in Bishkek have asked a court to close our Kyrgyz member center ([link removed]) .

Kyrgyzstan’s president even went on state TV and told Kloop editors to “stop harming the Kyrgyz people.”

The complaint was filed on the same day Kloop published its latest investigation ([link removed]) about the involvement of the family of the head of a state security agency in the construction of the Barcelona Football School in Kyrgyzstan, alongside associates of President Sadyr Japarov.

Kloop was a key partner in several of our award-winning investigations in Kyrgyzstan, including our Plunder and Patronage in the Heart of Central Asia series ([link removed]) , the winner of the prestigious IRE Tom Renner Award.


** CORRUPTION NEWS
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🇺🇸 United States: A federal court may review a campaign finance regulation ([link removed]) restricting how congressional candidates coordinate with House and Senate committees in the purchasing of TV ads. If the restriction is eliminated, political candidates could be able to access larger donations.

🇺🇦 Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed making wartime corruption a crime of treason, which would pass cases to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Politico reports that an anti-corruption watchdog ([link removed]) fears the move could prevent independent investigations into graft, as the SBU is under the president’s command.

🇬🇹 Guatemala: The United States and United Nations have condemned Guatemala for arresting a former member ([link removed]) of a UN-backed anti-corruption mission. The arrest is one of several legal actions taken against people affiliated with the fight against graft and organized crime.


** ORGANIZED CRIME AND OTHER NEWS
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🇸🇱 Sierra Leona: New evidence collected by OCCRP indicates that two Chinese trawlers were fishing ([link removed]) in Sierra Leone’s marine protected areas, where industrial fishing is forbidden.

🇲🇽 Mexico: The Ministry of National Defense deployed soldiers to Michoacán province, where cartels are accused ([link removed]) of attacking lemon farmers who don’t comply with extortion demands.

🇦🇷 Argentina: An international police operation dismantled networks ([link removed]) that created and transmitted child sexual abuse material.

🇭🇳 Honduras: A court ruled to keep the Mayor of Brus Lagunamayor ([link removed]) , a town near the Nicaraguan border, in custody as he faces drug trafficking charges.


** EVENTS
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➡️ ARIJ2023: Our MENA partner, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), is hosting its 16th annual forum in Amman, Jordan. The event will focus on how journalists can collaborate across borders.

December 1-3, 2023
You can join virtually and in-person by registering here ([link removed]) .
P.S. Thank you for reading the OCCRP newsletter. Feel free to reply with any feedback.

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