Speaking privately with their bankers in early 2023, two close associates of India’s Adani family acknowledged they owned billions of dollars worth of shares in the conglomerate through multiple hedge funds, according to confidential banking records.
The disclosure came amid a major financial scandal that had shaken India’s markets. Weeks earlier, an American investment research firm had published a damning report alleging that the Adani Group’s long-running stock surge was artificially fueled by insider trading and market manipulation.
The controversy drew global attention, partly due to the conglomerate’s well-known connections to India’s prime minister. While Adani shares initially tumbled, they eventually recovered. The company strongly rejected all accusations, calling the research report an assault on the nation. Following an extensive review, India’s market regulator issued two rulings finding no violations in specific aspects of the case, effectively clearing the group. The results of numerous other investigation threads have never been made public.
Previously, investigative journalists had identified two individuals who secretly traded Adani stocks for years: an Emirati citizen and a Taiwanese national. Both had documented ties to the Adani family and held positions in affiliated firms. The Adani Group again denied any wrongdoing, taking legal action against journalists and accusing them of representing hostile interests.
Now, internal documents from a Swiss banking group based in Geneva reveal that these individuals’ investments in the Adani Group were far larger and more recent than previously understood. Earlier reports indicated investments in the hundreds of millions between 2013 and 2018. The new documents show they held approximately $3 billion in Adani stock through several hedge funds as recently as 2023, via accounts at a Dubai-based subsidiary of the Swiss bank.
According to an internal bank report, both men confirmed this in writing, explaining they invested due to personal and professional relationships with Adani family members and their trust in the family’s business judgment. They denied the allegations made by the American research firm.
The men’s connections to the Adani family had been documented in two separate government investigations into alleged wrongdoing by the conglomerate, both eventually dismissed. The first involved a 2007 probe into an allegedly illegal diamond trading scheme by India’s revenue intelligence agency. Investigative reports described one man as director of three Adani companies involved, while the other represented a trading firm also implicated. The case revealed that one associate shared a Singapore residential address with the chairman’s older brother.
The second case involved an alleged over-invoicing scheme uncovered in a 2014 investigation. Authorities claimed Adani Group companies were illegally moving money out of India by overpaying their own foreign subsidiary by as much as $1 billion for imported power equipment. Again, both men’s names appeared, with each serving as director of companies that later handled the scheme’s proceeds.
The research report also noted that one associate was listed as a director or shareholder in a Singapore company identified as a “related party” in Adani disclosures.
There is evidence suggesting the men’s stock trading was coordinated with the family. According to a source familiar with the conglomerate’s operations, fund managers handling their investments received direct instructions from an Adani company. Documents obtained by reporters corroborated this account.
The internal bank report also referenced inquiries about the two men received from Swiss authorities. According to a 2024 court ruling, Swiss prosecutors were conducting a criminal investigation into one associate, suspecting him of acting as a front man for Adani Group investments, and froze over $310 million in assets. No charges have been filed. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office confirmed an ongoing criminal investigation into money laundering and document forgery but declined to comment on the individual’s identity.
This Swiss case is one of several legal challenges facing the Adani Group. In late 2024, U.S. federal prosecutors indicted the group’s founder and his nephew for allegedly promising hundreds of millions in bribes to Indian officials. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a parallel civil complaint that remains ongoing. The group has dismissed these accusations as baseless and pledged to pursue all legal options.
While facing investigations abroad, the Adani Group has encountered limited consequences in India. Following the research report, public-interest litigants petitioned the Supreme Court to order a court-monitored probe. The court directed the market regulator to continue and expand its investigation, while appointing an expert committee. That committee found no evidence of regulatory failure but noted the regulator could not determine the ultimate owners of certain offshore entities.
In its final judgment, the Supreme Court rejected the petitioners’ request, finding no reason to transfer the investigation away from the regulator, which had completed most of its probes. In 2025, the regulator issued two final orders on specific transactions flagged by the research firm, finding the allegations unsubstantiated. Multiple cases remain pending.
An Adani Group spokesperson stated that any alleged front men are actually public shareholders, and that the company neither controls nor directs who purchases publicly traded shares. The spokesperson said all allegations have been adequately addressed and examined at the highest levels of India’s regulatory and judicial framework.
The banking documents detail the institution’s response to the scandal. After becoming aware of the allegations, the bank conducted an internal investigation identifying three relevant accounts holding over $3 billion in assets. Two associates held approximately $2 billion and $1 billion respectively through British Virgin Islands-based companies, almost entirely invested in hedge funds likely focused on Adani Group companies. The chairman’s brother held a smaller amount through a UAE-registered company.
The bank subsequently summoned both men for a meeting, where they signed a written statement confirming their investments were based on personal relationships with the Adani family. The bank also blocked any transactions on their accounts without specific anti-money laundering officer authorization.
The internal report identified three Bermuda-based hedge funds through which the men invested. One fund administrator also managed another fund through which $430 million was invested in Adani stock, mentioned in earlier reporting about the two associates.
The documents also revealed that Swiss authorities had sent information requests about the accounts prior to the research report’s publication. The bank submitted suspicious transaction reports regarding both men and the chairman’s brother. The relevant accounts were later closed due to inactivity.
In the ongoing Swiss investigation, prosecutors suspect one associate served as a front man enabling insiders to own more stock than legally permitted. The Federal Criminal Court rejected an appeal to unfreeze frozen assets, noting the appellant could not provide explanations to dispel legitimate doubts.