NEW DELHI: A few days after it was reported that the Adani Group hired accountancy firm Grant Thornton, the Gautam Adani-owned group has dismissed it as a rumour. Adani group's flagship firm on Thursday termed as 'market rumour' reports of the embattled group hiring Grant Thornton to audit books in the aftermath of the Hindenburg crisis. In a stock exchange filing,

Adani Enterprises said the reports "appears to be a market rumour and hence it would be inappropriate on our part to comment on it." On Tuesday, sources had stated that the group has appointed accountancy firm Grant Thornton for an independent audit of a few of its companies to come clean after the allegations levelled by US short-seller Hindenburg Research and to assure investors and regulators.

 The audits, the sources had said, was to specifically look into if there was any misappropriation or repatriation of funds and if loans were used for any purpose other than the one they were intended for. The market value of the group's listed companies has halved since the January 24 report by Hindenburg Research alleging that Adani pulled the largest con in corporate history using offshore tax havens and stock manipulation.

Reports about the Adani Group appointing Grant Thornton came after the company said in a statement last week that it was thinking  an independent evaluation of issues relating to legal compliance, related party transactions and internal controls following Hindenburg’s scathing report.

Adani Group denied all the allegations levelled by Hindenburg Research and called them malicious, baseless and a calculated attack on India. It called Hindenburg the Madoffs of Manhattan, referring to the late financier and fraudster Bernie Madoff

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