The new report of American short seller firm Hindenburg has brought a new twist in the allegations leveled against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. In fact, the firm led by Nathan Anderson had also mentioned Mauritius while accusing the SEBI chief. Regarding this, the country’s Financial Service Commission (FSC) has said in clear words that Mauritius has nothing to do with the use of the fund mentioned in Hindenburg’s report.
A statement was issued by the Financial Service Commission (FSC) of Mauritius on Tuesday, the last trading day after the Hindenburg-SEBI dispute. It said that Mauritius has nothing to do with the offshore fund mentioned in the allegations leveled against Hindenburg Research’s SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch, because our country does not allow shell companies to operate. According to the FSC statement, it has taken cognizance of the information provided in a report published by US short seller Hindenburg Research on August 10, 2024, which depicted ‘Mauritius-based shell companies’ and the country as a ‘Tax Haven’.
According to the media reports, the FSC has said that the Hindenburg report on the SEBI chief claimed that the IPE Plus Fund (IPE+) is a small offshore fund of Mauritius and IPE Plus Fund-1 is registered in Mauritius itself. But we want to make it clear that the IPE Plus Fund and IPE Plus Fund-1 are not linked to Mauritius and no license has been given to it in the country. The report said that Mauritius has a strong infrastructure for global business firms. All companies licensed by the FSC here have to follow all the rules under Section 71 of the Financial Services Commission Act and they are constantly monitored.
The report released by Hindenburg last Saturday claimed that whistleblower documents reveal that Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhawal Buch opened their account with IPE Plus Fund 1 in Singapore on June 5, 2015. The couple’s total investment in this was estimated at $10 million. Hindenburg alleged that the offshore Mauritius fund was set up by a director of the Adani Group through India Infoline and is registered in the tax haven Mauritius.
Last year on 24 January 2023, Hindenburg has made these serious allegations against the SEBI chief and her husband 18 months after its research report on Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani. The report claims that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhawal Buch first took stake in Bermuda and Mauritius funds, then these two funds were also used by Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani. But now, sidelining these allegations of Hindenburg, it has been made clear by Mauritius that these funds do not exist there and Mauritius has been recognized as a transparent jurisdiction and cannot be called a tax haven.
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