Adani to face fresh scrutiny over financial fraud

allegations of siphoning huge sums into tax havens

1 - 2 of 2 posts

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

1 1 Dec 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/01/adani-mining-giant-likely-to-face-fresh-scrutiny-over-financial-allegations

The Adani Group is likely to again have to answer allegations it siphoned more than US$600m (£445m) into overseas tax havens after senior Indian finance authorities recommended an appeal of a judgment clearing the mining giant.

The Indian finance secretary has confirmed to local media the August decision clearing the Adani Group had been reviewed by senior officials in November who ordered an appeal to be lodged by 14 December.

In August the Guardian revealed details of a massive fraud investigation into the company, which is preparing to build one of the world’s largest coal mines in Australia.

According to two sets of Indian customs intelligence documents from 2014, the Adani Group was accused of inflating the cost of electricity equipment for power projects in Maharashtra and Rajasthan states using fraudulent invoices. Authorities valued the alleged scams at nearly $852m.

The company or entities linked to it are currently being scrutinised for their suitability for a $681m concessional loan from the Australian government to build a railway line linking the proposed coal mine to a Queensland port. However it is reportedly close to securing loans from a Chinese state-owned company that would make the Australian loan unnecessary.
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Six Adani subsidiaries are among 40 companies being investigated by Indian authorities over a separate alleged fraud involving the over-invoicing of coal imports from Indonesia.

The general modus operandi of the alleged scams is that the energy companies used fake middlemen to inflate the price of equipment or coal they sourced from overseas.

The extra money allegedly paid by the businesses was allegedly channeled into offshore bank accounts out of the reach of Indian regulators or tax authorities.

see also https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/16/why-adanis-planned-carmichael-coalmine-matters-to-australia-and-the-world

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/22/adani-reportedly-near-deal-with-china-to-fund-carmichael-rail-line

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

2 3 Dec 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/02/adani-group-china-construction-bank-wont-grant-loan-pr-firm-says

Adani Group: China Construction Bank won't grant loan

Adani Group’s Carmichael coal project will not be financed by the China Construction Bank, according to a statement by a public relations firm that says it represents the bank.

If true, the news could be a blow to Adani’s plans to build Australia’s largest coal mine. It has turned to China for finance, following difficulties in getting subsidies from the Australian government.

The big Australian banks have ruled out lending to the project, and with Labor set to maintain government in Queensland, its promise to veto a potential federal loan to Adani means Australian government funding is unlikely to go ahead.

In November, it was revealed that Adani was looking to work with the China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) on building the railway that would link Carmichael coalmine to the Abbot Point coal terminal, so it could ship the coal out through the Great Barrier Reef.

The state-owned China Construction Bank is the second largest bank in the world, and one thought to have a strategic alliance with CMEC, which could allow the Carmichael project to access subsidised Chinese government loans.

But in a statement to the financial activist group Market Forces, a representative from PR firm The Continuum Partners said the firm was representing China Construction Bank in Australia, and that it was not working with Adani on the project.