New Delhi, Sep 14 (Agency) A day after SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch dismissed allegations against her as false and malicious, Congress party on Saturday brought fresh charges to corner the regulatory body chief claiming that she traded in listed securities and invested in Chinese funds. Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, party spokesperson Pawan Khera said that the SEBI Chairperson was grossly misusing power by violating rules and making undue personal gains. “From September 2, the Congress started unravelling the long-kept secrets of the current SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch on how she has been deceiving the people of India,” Khera said.
He said that Madhabi Buch, while at SEBI, was trading in listed securities between 2017-2023. During this period she did trading worth around Rs 37 crore, which is a direct violation of SEBI Rules. The Congress spokesperson said, “In such a situation, the question is why Madhabi lied that Agora is a dormant company. Then she again lied that ‘When I was giving my house on rent, I did not know that the company was associated with Wockhardt”. Khera said, “We asked several banks and companies, some of whom replied that they had given money to Agora. But the question we asked about Mahindra and Mahindra company have not been answered yet”.
The Congress leader said, “Mahindra & Mahindra must clarify whether they paid large sums to both Dhaval Buch personally and his joint consultancy, Agora Advisory Private Limited, in which Madhabi Buch holds a 99 percent stake. If yes, did Mahindra & Mahindra fail to conduct KYC and due diligence before transferring substantial public funds to Agora Advisory Private Limited? If Dhaval Buch was paid Rs. 4.78 Crores personally, they must also clarify the payment of Rs. 2.59 Crores to Agora, a supposedly ‘dormant’ company”. Khera also alleged that Madhabi Puri Buch had some foreign assets between 2017-2021. In such a situation, he said, “We would like to ask: To which government agency did Madhabi ji first inform about her foreign assets? Was she not associated with Agora partners PTE Singapore? and why was she investing in Chinese funds?”