US-based short seller Hindenburg Research alleged that Swiss authorities have frozen more than $310 million in funds across several Swiss Bank accounts linked to the money laundering and securities investigation of Adani Group, according to the firm’s social media post on platform X, on September 12.

“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,” said the US-based short seller in its post on platform X, on Thursday night. 

Hindenburg, in its post, cited a Swiss media outlet, Gotham City, claiming that an order from the Federal Criminal Court (FCC) revealed that the Geneva Public Prosecutor’s office was investigating the alleged wrongdoing of the Adani Group conglomerate “well before activist investors from Hindenburg Research made its first accusations.”

The report also alleged that more than $310 million belonging to a frontman working for billionaire Gautam Adani is sequestered (hidden) in six Swiss banks. The report also mentioned that the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) took over the investigation after the case was revealed in front of the press.

The short seller mentioned that the alleged frontman invested in “opaque BVI/Mauritius & Bermuda funds,” which nearly just own Adani group’s stocks, citing the court records released by the Swiss criminal court, reported in the local Swiss media outlet.

“Prosecutors detailed how an Adani frontman invested in opaque BVI/Mauritius & Bermuda funds that almost exclusively owned Adani stocks, according to newly released Swiss criminal court records reported by Swiss media outlet,” said Hindenburg Research in its post on platform X.

This comes as the latest development in the Adani-Hindenburg Saga, which originated from the original Hindenburg report on the Adani Group named as “Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History.” The short-seller released the report on January 24, 2023. 

Adani Enterprises shares closed 1.84 per cent higher at ₹2,991.40 after Thursday’s market close, compared to ₹2,937.35 in the previous day. Hindenburg’s post came after market operating hours. 

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GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd plans to increase its stake in Delhi International Airport Ltd, India’s largest, to 74% by acquiring an additional 10% from Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide for around $126 million.

The transaction, subject to the approval of the Airports Authority of India and shareholders, is expected to be concluded within 180 days of executing the share-purchase agreement, the company informed the stock exchanges after the close of market hours on Monday. State-run AAI owns 26% of the paid-up capital of Delhi airport.

The proposed stake sale by Fraport meets Sebi’s requisite related-party transaction norms, GMR Airports said in the statement.

In January 2006, the GMR group-led consortium was awarded the concession to operate, manage and develop the Indira Gandhi International Airport of Delhi following an international competitive bidding process. The initial term of the concession period is 30 years, extendable by another 30 years.

The consortium of GMR Group (54%), Malaysia Airports (Naiga) Sdn Bhd (10%) and Fraport AG Frankfurt Services Worldwide (10%) signed the operations, management and development agreement on 4 April 2006 with the AAI (26%).

In 2015, GMR group increased its stake in Delhi airport to 64% by acquiring 10% equity for around $79 million from Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, which sold the minority stake as it did not give it any “influence” in the venture.

Delhi airport is India’s largest and busiest, managing about 20% of the country’s domestic and international traffic. In FY24, it handled 73.7 million passengers, up 12.8% from the previous financial year. Delhi airport’s three terminals have an annual capacity of around 104 million passengers.

“The acquisition of additional stake in DIAL is in line with our objective of consolidating our presence in core assets of the Group and signifies the importance of Delhi airport in the overall Group portfolio,” said Kiran Kumar Grandhi, corporate chairman of GMR Group, in the statement.

Fraport is a German transport company that operates the airport in Frankfurt am Main and holds interests in the operation of several other airports around the world. It also offers ground-handling services.