New Delhi, Jan 19: Substantial evidence has begun to emerge against the controversial short-seller Hindenburg Research and its founder Nathan Anderson in a court battle in Ontario, Canada, exposing Hindenburg's secret ties, and potential securities fraud and faulty disclosures made by the firm and the founder, according to media reports.

“There are multiple counts of securities fraud for both Nate Anderson and Anson Funds, and we have only reviewed 5 per cent of the material as of the time of writing,” said a report by Market Frauds, a Canadian online investigative news outlet.

“It is almost certain that when the entire exchange between Hindenburg and Anson reaches the SEC, Nate Anderson will be charged with securities fraud in 2025,” the report states.

Hindenburg's decision to abruptly close down operations has taken many by surprise, particularly due to its timing -- just three days before Donald Trump’s inauguration.

In November 2024, Bloomberg’s Crack Research team published an extensive report, the first in a series exposing the covert forces behind various short-sellers and research firms, including Hindenburg. The report, titled "Short-Sellers' Secret Talks and Alliances Emerge in Court Battle", centred on firms, including Hindenburg Research and Anson Funds, a Canada-based fund operated by Moez Kassam, of Indian origin. Denying any relationship with Anson, Hindenburg told Bloomberg that it receives “hundreds of leads each year from diverse sources. We rigorously vet each lead and have always maintained full editorial independence over our work,” it said.

Following the article, Anderson also publicly denied any partnership with Anson or anyone else. However, leaked emails suggest otherwise. Dozens of emails exchanged between Hindenburg and Sanjeev Puri of Anson in 2019 over a trade indicate that Anson took the editorial lead, with Hindenburg having little to no editorial control. It is still uncertain whether there were any financial arrangements between the two.

Sources indicate that the Adani Group, which did not sue the short-seller, initiated covert investigations with foreign intelligence partners last year to counter those working against them. Hindenburg first released its report on the Adani Group in January 2023, leading to a market valuation loss of over $150 billion.

The role of Anson in the attacks on the Adani Group remains unclear, with some reports alleging that its backers include organised crime. Marissa Siegal Kassam, the wife of Anson’s founder, and Mahua Moitra were colleagues at JP Morgan, where Moitra worked for nearly 12 years. Moitra was the one who initiated the attacks on the Adani Group in the Lok Sabha post-Hindenburg report.

--IANS

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