Who is Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli: UAE link featured in OCCRP report on Adani

Emirati Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli has been named as one of the two close associates of Vinod Adani used to route investments into Adani Group stocks through offshore funds. Ahli is a director of United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based consultancy company Al Jawda Trade & Services. Ahli’s name did not feature in the report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research released in January, but the names of a few related firms got mentioned.

In the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project report, Ahli has been described as the owner of Gulf Arij Trading FZE (UAE), a beneficial owner in Mid East Ocean Trade & Investment (Mauritius), and a ‘controlling person’ in Gulf Asia Trade & Investment (British Virgin Islands). These firms have been alleged to be involved in the money trail and offshore traders of Adani companies.

One of the initial cases where his name features is that of an investigation by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) into alleged illegal diamond trading by Adani companies in 2007.

A report by Quartz describes Ahli as ‘Adani Group’s man in Dubai’. It states that he was also the founder of the company Electrogen Infra FZE in 2009 in Dubai, the ownership of which he later transferred to Vinod Adani, the brother of Gautam Adani, in March 2010.

Electrogen Infra’s name featured again in another investigation by DRI in alleged siphoning of funds and the Hindenburg report for over-invoicing of power equipment.