Hundreds of people took to the streets in India on Monday to demand a probe into allegations of fraud against the man behind one of the country's most lucrative companies.
Protests raged in New Delhi and other cities against Gautam Adani, the CEO of commodities conglomerate the Adani Group and one of the richest people in the world. The company and Adani himself have been embroiled in a scandal after short-seller firm Hindenburg Research published a report accusing the Adani Group of running "the largest con in corporate history."
According to Hindenburg, the Adani Group was allegedly "engaged in a brazen stock-manipulation and accounting fraud scheme," and would also significantly overinflate the value of their companies even as debts began to pile up.
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The scandal has caused outrage among India's leading opposition faction, the Congress Party, and The Wall Street Journal reported that the Adani Group has lost $100 billion since the allegations arose, while Adani himself has lost $50 billion of his net worth.
While the Adani Group has pledged to repay some of its investors, members of the Congress Party have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open an investigation.
Some Congress Party members have accused Modi of being in line with the Adani Group, and The Associated Press reported that protesters "burnt a suitcase plastered with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adani" during riots in New Delhi.
The Congress Party has also questioned the government's alleged investments made by state-backed banks in the Adani Group.
"The common man has invested his money in [Gautam Adani's] company and the government is trying to save him," Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee General Secretary Shiv Panday said, per Reuters, adding that the government was "supporting the businessman and not the common man."
