American anti-India billionaire George Soros has roped in Congress trolls and fake news peddlers for a hit job against Adani group. On 30th August, 2023, a web portal calling itself ‘Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’ (OCCRP) published a report claiming stock manipulation by close aides of Gautam Adani Group by secret investments. The OCCRP claims two investors, Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling, who allegedly have had long-term business ties with Adani Group, were public investors in the group. The Soros funded organisation claims this likely violates Indian laws.
The report gives no documentation proof to substantiate claims except claiming they have ‘documents’ and that the ‘documents’ were shared with other anti-India international publications like The Guardian and Financial Times. Financial Times, back in March 2023 had published an article titled ‘Indian data reveals Adani empire’s reliance on offshore funding’. In the report, FT had claimed offshore companies linked to the Adanis invested at least $2.6 bn in the group between 2017 and 2022.
Rahul Gandhi kept on using this obscure figure to attack PM Modi insinuating corruption. Amusingly, even then, the FT had never given the basis of which it came up with the said figure. FT claimed this figure was derived after analysing ‘FDI’ (foreign direct investment) data. However, it did not give specifics on which data was used. In its methodology section, FT mentioned that it analysed India’s ‘share-based route’ and ‘automatic route for FDI’, under which purchases of shares or equity-like debt are reported by Indian entities to India’s Central Bank, which would be the Reserve Bank of India. In absence of origin of the ‘data’ used by FT to allege irregularities, one would find it quite difficult to fact-check.
Adani, on its part has again denied the latest allegations. As it has denied previous allegations, calling the reports baseless. This time, too, no one has given documents which they claim are incriminating evidence, so others could verify them independently. Their whole premise is based on ‘trust me, bro’ theory where everyone is just expected to believe what they’re saying without any proof.
To make things clearer – no documentary evidence of alleged ‘documentary evidence’ of financial manipulation is provided by any of the reports claiming to have carried out investigative journalism.
Now, let us come to the latest OCCRP report which is co-written by one Anand Mangnale, Ravi Nair and NBR Arcadio. Anand Mangnale is a Congress worker turned ‘journalist’. During 2020 JNU violence, journalist Barkha Dutt had shared a screenshot of a message where she claimed that a ‘United Against Left’ group was created to instigate violence.

The number mentioned above seemed to be asking if anything needs to be done as people supporting JNU are coming to main gate. The person who was using the number in ‘United Against Left’ group appeared to be asking if any violence/protests need to be done against those who were coming in support of JNU, which is a leftist bastion. Except, it was later revealed that this number was the same number Congress had put up on its website for volunteer donation.

This page is now taken down. The number which Dutt shared on Twitter belonged to Anand Mangnale. Anand Mangnale has previously worked with Prashant Kishore, who had earlier worked as strategist for ex-Congress President Rahul Gandhi in 2016 ahead of Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections. It is not clear whether Mangnale was part of team for Rahul Gandhi’s image makeover.
After the links of Anand Mangnale and Congress and his alleged role (documentary evidence provided as above, unlike Mangnale who doesn’t like to do so in reports making wild allegations), in instigating violence, Congress distanced itself from Mangnale.
Congress called Mangnale a ‘vendor’ and claimed it had nothing to do with him. Except, his number was used not for election campaign but for other campaigns such as ‘lets venture for wish kids’ and ‘child not bride’ campaign. As late as November 2019, Mangnale was still raising funds for Congress leaders.

When he was called out for being part of a group to instigate violence, Mangnale had claimed he had ‘infiltrated’ the group to know more about the alleged violence.

Anand Mangnale was never a student at JNU but he ‘infiltrated’ the group ‘to protect students’, he had claimed. A Congress crowdfunding campaign coordinator had casually ‘infiltrated’ a WhatsApp Group to defame the ABVP, students wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
And now, he has graduated to doing hit jobs on Adani Group.
Another coauthor to this dubious piece is one Ravi Nair. Ravi Nair also regularly indulges in anti-India propaganda. In April this year, Nair wrote an article on anti-Adani propaganda site ‘Adani Watch’ falsely claiming that a Chinese company, supposedly associated withGautam Adani, is building critical infrastructure projects in the country. The propaganda portal mistook a Taiwanese person named Chang Chien-Ting for a Chinese national and went on to claim that his alleged company (PMC Projects (India) Pvt Ltd) is constructing ports, electricity lines and railway tracks in India.
Amusingly, Nair has this time correctly identified Chang Chien-Ting as a Taiwanese national instead of calling him Chinese. This false information by Nair was used by Congress’ Rahul Gandhi to take a dig at PM Modi.
Nair wrote most of the anti-Adani pieces on Adani-watch. Nair was also associated with NewsClick, the Indian portal currently under scanner over alleged Chinese investment for furthering anti-India narrative.
Not surprisingly, Adani Group also filed a defamation suit against Nair, which he used as victim card for ‘speaking truth to power’.
Now coming back to OCCRP, On 24 August, 2023, certain media reports had suggested that the Soros funded website was planning another ‘expose’ on certain corporate houses in India. As per its website, OCCRP is funded by various organisations, including many that have an anti-India stand. From George Soros’ Open Society Foundation to US Department of State to Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Brothers Funds – OCCRP has support and funding from those who many not have India’s best interest in mind.
What is amusing here is that this hit job against Adani comes at a time when the Enforcement Directorate is investigating 16 Indian firms over suspicious activities. A Times of India report from 30th August, 2023 said that ED has investigated the links of Indian private bank and 15 other entities including foreign portfolio investor (FPIs) who indulged in shortselling of Adani shares earlier this year during the Hindenburg row. These entities reportedly took a short position ahead of release of Hindenburg report on 24 January 2023. Shortselling or taking a short position is an investment technique in which an investor sells shares at a higher value in hope to buy it later at lower price.
The ED has shared the intelligence with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) which is currently investigating the suspicious shortselling of Adani stocks. The ED on its own cannot file a case. The SEBI, however, can file criminal case if it finds evidence of suspicious behaviour. If the SEBI files a prosecution complaint, the ED could then initiate further probe under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act).
That this report, written by Congress supporters masquerading as investigative journalists, is published on a day when the opposition’s INDI-Alliance is meeting in Mumbai, could suggest there is more to the hit job than what meets the eye. Especially since no documentary evidence is provided for any of the allegations levelled against Adani Group by those who work for Chinese funded websites as well as double up as Congress ‘volunteers’.