Who is Madhabi Puri Buch, Sebi chief accused by Hindenburg Research of having stakes in obscure offshore funds used in Adani 'scandal'?

US short-seller Hindenburg Research has alleged that Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani 'money siphoning scandal'.

Hindenburg said that 18 months since its damning report on Adani, "Sebi has shown a surprising lack of interest in Adani's alleged undisclosed web of Mauritius and offshore shell entities."

Citing "whistleblower documents", it said, "Madhabi Buch, the current chairperson of Sebi, and her husband had stakes in both obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal."

Obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, allegedly controlled by Vinod Adani -- elder brother of group chairman Gautam Adani -- are alleged to have been used to round-trip funds and inflate stock price.

Who is Madhabi Puri Buch?

Born in 1966, Madhabi Puri Buch is currently the chairperson of the Securitites and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and is the first woman to hold the post.

Madhabi completed her schooling from Fort Convent School in Mumbai and Convent of Jessus and Mary in Delhi.

She graduated from St Stephen's College in Delhi with a specialisation in mathematics and later pursued MBA from the IIM Ahmedabad.

Puri started her career at ICICI Bank, later joining the ICICI Securities, climbing to the position of CEO in 2009.

After this, Puri switched multiple jobs, wherein she also worked for the BRICS' New Development Bank.

She is married to Dhawal Buch. The couple have a son together—Abhay.

Sebi career

Madhabi was appointed as a whole-time director at Sebi in April 2017.

After the completion of her tenure, Madhabi was appointed to a seven-member tech committee to assist in designing the in-house technological systems at Sebi.

What did Hindenburg Research say about the Sebi chief?

In its apparent expose, Hindenburg said, "A declaration of funds, signed by a principal at IIFL states that the source of the investment is 'salary' and the couple's (net worth is estimated at Rs 83 crore ($10 million)."

"In brief, despite the existence of thousands of mainstream, reputable onshore Indian mutual fund products, an industry she now is responsible for regulating, documents show Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband had stakes in a multi-layered offshore fund structure with miniscule assets, traversing known high-risk jurisdictions, overseen by a company with reported ties to the Wirecard scandal, in the same entity run by an Adani director and significantly used by Vinod Adani in the alleged Adani cash siphoning scandal," it alleged.

"If Sebi really wanted to find the offshore fund holders, perhaps the Sebi chairperson could have started by looking in the mirror," it said, adding, "We find it unsurprising that Sebi was reluctant to follow a trail that may have led to its own chairperson."