Singapore Police Reviewing Viceroy Claim against India's Vedanta, Company Rejects Allegations as ‘Baseless’: Reuters
Moneylife Digital Team 19 September 2025
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is reviewing a complaint filed by short seller Viceroy Research alleging that India’s Vedanta Ltd improperly funded its 2024 dividend, according to documents seen by Reuters.
 
Vedanta, a diversified natural resources conglomerate valued at around US$20bn (billion), strongly rejected the allegations. Speaking to Reuters, the company says it had paid all dividends in 'full compliance with applicable laws', describing Viceroy’s claims as 'baseless'.
 
“We maintain that the allegations in the short seller's dubious 'reports' are malicious and ill-informed, and the company unequivocally rejects them,” Vedanta told Reuters. It also clarified that no investigation was underway by the SPF and that it had not been contacted by the Singapore police. The SPF declined to comment when approached by Reuters.
 
In a 7 August 2025 letter to the Singapore police, Viceroy alleged that Vedanta had artificially boosted its dividend by using a US$900 million loan from Oaktree Capital Management. According to the US-based short seller, the company employed accounting manoeuvres to inflate reserves and pay a dividend that was not supported by actual cash earnings. The loan was subsequently repaid, with write-offs reversed through Singapore-based entities, Viceroy claimed.
 
Viceroy says its findings were based on publicly available reports, forensic analysis of Vedanta’s filings, and site visits to its assets. In an email reviewed by Reuters, the SPF assigned the complaint a reference number, indicating that the matter was under review.
 
This is not the first time Vedanta has faced allegations from Viceroy. In July 2025, the short seller published a report stating it had taken a short position against the debt of Vedanta Resources, the UK-based parent that owns 56% of Vedanta Ltd. The report alleged that Vedanta Resources was 'systematically draining' its Indian subsidiary and that the company’s dividend policy catered more to the parent’s financing needs than to the subsidiary’s cash flow. Vedanta dismissed those accusations as “a malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations".
 
The group has been under pressure in recent years, particularly after the Indian government objected to a 2023 demerger plan to split Vedanta into four separate entities. The move followed an unsuccessful attempt by chairman Anil Agarwal to take the group private three years earlier. Vedanta Resources, which has been grappling with high debt levels, has pledged to reduce net debt by US$1.2bn to US$11.1bn in fiscal 2025.
 
The fresh complaint intensifies scrutiny of Vedanta’s financial practices, with the company simultaneously defending its governance and attempting to reassure investors about its debt reduction strategy.
 
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