Indian billionaire Gautam Adani charged in US for alleged bribery, fraud | Business and financial news

Gautam Adani, the chairman of the Indian conglomerate Adani Group and one of the world’s richest people, has been indicted in New York over an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud scheme, US prosecutors have said.

Authorities on Wednesday accused Adani and two other Adani Green Energy executives, his nephew Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, of agreeing to pay more than $250 million in bribes between 2020 and 2024 to Indian government officials to obtain solar power supply contracts that expected to yield returns. $2 billion in profits.

Prosecutors said the renewable energy company also raised more than $3 billion. in loans and bonds during this period based on false and misleading statements.

Five other people were hit with related criminal conspiracy charges, including two executives from another renewable energy company and three employees of a Canadian institutional investor.

Adani Group denied the allegations on Thursday.

“The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and dismissed,” the conglomerate said in a statement, adding that “every possible remedy will be sought.”

In the wake of the US charges, shares in Adani Group companies lost around 28 billion. USD in market value in morning trade on Thursday, and Adani Green Energy canceled a bond sale of 600 million. USD.

Shares in Adani Green Energy fell 17 percent, and shares of several other companies in the conglomerate lost more than 10 percent.

According to court records, a judge has issued arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, and prosecutors plan to hand those warrants over to foreign law enforcement.

The case involves alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a US anti-bribery law.

Seven of the eight defendants are Indian nationals and lived in India, while the eighth, Cyril Cabanes, is a dual French Australian citizen who lived in Singapore, prosecutors said.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed related civil charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Cabanes, 50, an executive at Azure Power Global. Prosecutors identified Cabanes as one of the Canadian investor’s employees.

According to Forbes magazine, Gautam Adani is worth $69.8 billion, making him the world’s 22nd richest person and India’s second richest person.

‘Prepared schedule’

“The defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement, adding that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Jaain “lied about the bribery scheme, as they tried to raise capital from American and international investors”.

“These offenses were allegedly committed by executives and directors to obtain and finance massive government energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of American investors,” added Deputy Attorney General Lisa H Miller.

On several occasions, Gautam Adani met personally with an Indian official to promote the bribery scheme, and the defendants held personal meetings with each other to discuss aspects of its execution, prosecutors alleged.

According to the indictment, some conspirators privately referred to Gautam Adami by the code names “Numero Uno” and “The Big Man”, while Sagar Adani allegedly used his mobile phone to track details of the alleged bribes.

In January last year, US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research accused Adani and his companies of stock market manipulation and fraud, allegations denied by the group. India’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of the group a year later.

On Thursday, India’s opposition Congress party called for a parliamentary inquiry into alleged wrongdoing by the Adani group.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “protecting” Adani.

“We demand that Adani be immediately arrested. But we know that will not happen as Modi is protecting him,” Gandhi told a press conference in the capital, New Delhi.

Last week, Gautam Adani said in a post on social media platform X that his conglomerate planned to invest $10 billion in US energy security and infrastructure projects, creating a potential 15,000 jobs, without specifying a timetable.

He announced the investment while congratulating incoming US President Donald Trump on his election victory.

Trump has promised to make it easier for energy companies to drill on federal land and build new pipelines.

The $32 billion revenue Adani Group has interests in ports, airports, power generation and transmission and green energy, among others.