Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest man’s company has published a detailed rebuttal to allegations of wrongdoing made by short seller Hindenburg Research. Adani Group describes the report as a “calculated attack on India” in a 400-page document.

Later that day, Hindenburg stated that “Adani failed to specifically answer 62 of our 88 questions” in the report.

Last week, the stock market value of Adani Group, an Indian conglomerate, was reduced by more than $50 billion ($40.4 billion). It also stated that it had followed all local laws and made all required regulatory disclosures.

“All transactions entered into by us with entities who qualify as ‘related parties’ under Indian laws and accounting standards have been duly disclosed by us,” Adani Group said in a 413-page document issued late on Sunday.

The company continued further to accuse the Hindenburg report of being designed to allow the US-based short seller to book profits without providing evidence.

“This is rife with conflict of interest and intended only to create a false market in securities to enable Hindenburg, an admitted short seller, to book massive financial gain through wrongful means at the cost of countless investors,” it added.

“Short-selling” is when someone bets against a company’s share price in the expectation that it will fall.

“To be clear, we believe India is a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future,” Hindenburg said in response.

“We also believe India’s future is being held back by the Adani Group, which has draped itself in the Indian flag while systematically looting the nation.”

It comes as Adani Group’s flagship firm, Adani Enterprises, prepares to sell $2.5 billion in shares this week. Hindenburg published a report last week that questioned the Adani Group’s ownership of companies in offshore tax havens such as Mauritius and the Caribbean.

It also claimed Adani companies had “substantial debt” which put the entire group on a “precarious financial footing”.

However, Adani Group announced on Thursday that it was considering “remedial and punitive action” against Hindenburg Research in the United States and India.

Adani stated that it has always complied with all laws.

Also on Thursday, Hindenburg responded to Adani’s comments, saying the firm had not addressed “a single substantive issue we had raised”.

(Adapted from TheGuardian.com)