INDIAN BILLIONAIRE GAUTAM ADANI CHARGED IN U. S. FOR ALLEGED BRIBERY, FRAUD. (PHOTO).

 

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani charged in US for alleged bribery, fraud

Gautam Adani, the chair of Indian conglomerate Adani Group and one of the world’s richest people, whose business empire extends from ports and airports to renewable energy,has been indicted in New York over an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud scheme, United States prosecutors have said.

The authorities on Wednesday charged Adani and two other executives at Adani Green Energy, his nephew Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, with agreeing between 2020 and 2024 to pay more than $250m in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain solar energy supply contracts expected to yield $2bn in profits.

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

Shares of Adani Enterprises, the group's flagship firm, closed down 22% on Thursday. Other group firms also closed in the red. Adani Green Energy, which is the firm at the centre of the allegations, said it wouldn't proceed with a $600m bond offering. 

The conglomerate has been operating under a cloud since 2023, when US short-seller Hindenburg Research published a report accusing it of decades of "brazen" stock manipulation and accounting fraud. 

The claims, which Mr Adani denied, prompted a major market sell-off and an investigation by India's market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Later, Hindenburg also accused Sebi's chief Madhabi Puri Buch of having links with off-shore funds used by the Adani group - both Ms Buch and the group have denied this.

But the US indictment is one of the biggest challenges the group has faced. Apart from Mr Adani there are seven other defendants, including his nephew. 

Reports of the bribery probe into the company have been circulating for months. 

Prosecutors said the US started investigating the company in 2022, and found the inquiry obstructed.

They allege that executives raised $3bn in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm's anti-bribery practices and policies, as well as reports of the bribery probe.

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

The Adani Group denied the charges 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 denied,” the conglomerate said in a statement, adding that “all possible legal recourse will be sought.”

The US Attorney positions in the US are appointed by the president. The filing comes just weeks after Donald Trump won election to the White House, pledging to overhaul the US Justice Department. 

After Trump won, Mr Adani had congratulated him on social media and pledged last week to invest $10bn in the US.