Deloitte planning to resign from Adani Ports

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Deloitte is planning to resign as auditor of Adani group's port company, a move that comes weeks after it raised concern over certain transactions flagged in a report of a US short seller. Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP has communicated to Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd its decision to resign as auditor and a formal announcement is expected shortly, sources with knowledge of the matter said. The reason for the resignation was not immediately known.

Deloitte declined to comment. In May, Deloitte had flagged three transactions, including recoveries from a contractor identified in the Hindenburg report, as it issued a qualified opinion on the accounts of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone. In the auditors' report on the audit of the fourth quarter and 2022-23 financials, Deloitte highlighted transactions with three entities, which the company said were unrelated parties.

Deloitte however said it could not attest to the company's statement as no independent external examination has been done to prove the claims. Hindenburg Research in its January 24 report that levelled allegations of fraud, stock manipulation, and money laundering against the Adani group, had also flagged inadequate disclosures of related party transactions. Adani group has denied all allegations.

Deloitte had stated that the Adani group did not consider it necessary to have an independent external examination of these allegations because of their evaluation and the ongoing investigation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). «The evaluation performed by the Group does not constitute sufficient appropriate audit evidence for the purposes of our audit,» Deloitte had said in notes to APSEZ financial statement. In the absence of the