Adani charged with bribery, fraud in US; arrest warrant issued
21 Nov 2024

Gautam Adani, the billionaire chair of Indian conglomerate Adani Group and one of the world's richest people, has been indicted in New York for his involvement in an alleged multi-billion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme.

The charges were announced by US prosecutors on Wednesday.

Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, are accused of paying about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy supply contracts.

Alleged bribery scheme aimed at securing solar contracts
Scheme details

The alleged bribery scheme was aimed at securing solar energy supply contracts that were projected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years.

These contracts were part of a plan to set up India's largest solar power plant project.

According to the indictment, some conspirators used code names such as "Numero uno" and "the big man" for Gautam while Sagar allegedly used his cellphone to track details about the bribes.

Adanis accused of concealing corruption from lenders, investors
Fraud allegations

The prosecutors also claim that the Adanis and Vneet Jaain—MD and CEO of Adani Green Energy—hid the corruption from lenders and investors while raising over $3 billion in loans and bonds for their company.

Jaain has been charged with securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy.

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

Other defendants charged with FCPA violations, obstruction of justice
Additional charges

The other five defendants in the case have been charged with conspiring to violate the FCPA, while four are accused of conspiring to obstruct justice.

Among these defendants are Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, both former executives at Azure Power Global, and Cyril Cabanes, a director there.

They were associated with Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, a Canadian institutional investor at the time.

Arrest warrants issued for Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani
Legal proceedings

Court records show that arrest warrants have been issued for Gautam and Sagar. Prosecutors intend to turn over these warrants to foreign law enforcement.

Separately, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed related civil charges against Gautam, Sagar, and Cabanes.

The charges were announced just hours after the Adani Group raised $600 million from a sale of 20-year "green" bonds on Wednesday.

However, Adani Group scrapped these bonds on Thursday after Gautam was indicted in the US.