Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. fraud case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani appears to be backed by documents that will help prosecutors make a strong case, legal experts said, but the tycoon is unlikely to be extradited to stand trial anytime soon.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn last month unsealed an indictment accusing Mr. Adani of bribing Indian officials to convince them to buy electricity produced by Adani Green Energy, a subsidiary of his Adani Group conglomerate, and then misleading U.S. investors by providing reassuring information about the company’s anti-corruption practices.

Gautam Adani indictment: In-depth coverage

Mr. Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and another Adani Group executive were charged with securities fraud and conspiracy. Five people affiliated with Azure Power Global, a formerly-U.S.-listed company also allegedly involved, were charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Azure has said it had cooperated with the investigation and that those charged were no longer with the company. Adani Group has called the allegations “baseless” and vowed to seek “all possible legal recourse.”

Gautam Adani is not in custody. He has made at least two public appearances in India since the indictment, including at a Dec. 9 event also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the indictment, prosecutors found ledgers of the alleged payments on Sagar Adani’s cellular phone, which they called “bribe notes.” Prosecutors also said Gautam Adani emailed himself a copy of a search warrant and grand jury subpoena the FBI had served on his nephew on March 17, 2023.

Those electronic records could be important pieces of evidence for prosecutors to try to prove that Sagar Adani and Gautam Adani knew they misled investors by failing to disclose the investigation and insisting they had strong anti-corruption practices when in fact they had paid bribes, experts said.

“The allegations include references to corroborating material, and that always provides for a stronger case,” said Stephen Reynolds, a former federal prosecutor and current partner at law firm Day Pitney.

To be sure, prosecutors may face challenges. Gautam Adani could argue that he was not personally involved in crafting the statements the company made to investors about its anti-bribery practices, said Paul Tuchmann, a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn and now a partner at law firm Wiggin & Dana.

Prosecutors may also struggle to secure live testimony from witnesses in India because the process could require assistance from New Delhi, and the government may be reluctant to facilitate testimony that could paint Indian officials in an unfavorable light, said Mark Cohen, a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn and current partner at law firm Cohen & Gresser.

India’s Foreign Ministry on Friday referred to a Nov. 29 statement in which it said it had not received any request on the case from Washington, and called the case a matter between private firms and the U.S. Justice Department.

The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on whether the United States had asked India to extradite Gautam Adani.

‘PLAY BY THE RULES’

Both Adani Group and Mr. Adani himself have recently made public statements emphasizing that the conglomerate’s executives had not been charged with violating the FCPA.

Conspiracy to violate the FCPA is punishable by up to five years behind bars. The fraud charges Gautam Adani and the other Adani Group defendants face are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Drew Rolle, the deputy chief of the business and securities fraud section at the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office, said his office had a responsibility to protect the integrity of U.S. capital markets.

Also Read | The return of the Adani solar beam 

The office has secured a number of convictions in foreign bribery cases with U.S. connections. In August, jurors found Mozambique’s former finance minister guilty on fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges for embezzling loan proceeds he had told banks were destined for economic development projects.

Rolle said honest companies are harmed when firms like Mr. Adani’s allegedly mislead investors.

“It’s not only a bribery case, it’s an important securities enforcement case,” he said at a Dec. 6 conference in New York hosted by the Practicing Law Institute. “If you’re going to access our capital markets, you’re going to play by the rules.”

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

An Indian government agency charged with promoting renewable energy has changed the way it issues power tenders to reduce the risk of corruption after U.S. allegations of bribery in some tenders, said an official with direct knowledge of the matter.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) earns commission for linking renewable energy producers with buyers. It was an intermediary in solar power deals involving Adani Group and several states where U.S. authorities have said bribes were paid to unidentified officials between 2021 and 2022.

Gautam Adani indictment: In-depth coverage

The ports-to-power Adani Group has denied the allegations, calling them baseless.

U.S. authorities have not accused SECI of any wrongdoing.

SECI, which selects renewable energy producers for projects through bids and then signs deals with power buyers, said last month it had “no basis so far” to investigate the allegations and that it was “not clear if any of SECI’s covenants have been violated”.

About 75% of SECI’s new bids for renewable power will now be based on specific demand from states instead of the earlier practice of mainly seeking power suppliers first through tenders and then approaching buyers, said the SECI official, who did not want to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

A spokesperson for SECI did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours on Monday.

The official said the earlier practice, which used to account for about 90% of the bids, had raised the risk of corruption by power producers seeking to influence buyers in states to sign up to deals even if they did not need the power. The official did not name any companies or give any examples.

The source said SECI had not found any reason to independently investigate any deals it had been part of and that no agency within India or outside had reached out to it.

The allegations against the Adani Group, nevertheless, could temporarily cut foreign investments in India’s renewable sector, said the source, adding that SECI expected tendering to slow down for the rest of the fiscal year that ends on March 31.

Also Read | The return of the Adani solar beam 

SECI’s target for this fiscal year was to find bidders for 15 gigawatts (GW) of power, but it has managed only about 6-7 GW so far.

India is still more than 10% short of its pledge to add 175 GW of renewable power by 2022. It wants to reach 500 GW by 2030.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The U.S. reacted sharply on Saturday (December 7, 2024) to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s allegation that the U.S. State Department was behind targeted attacks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian businessman Gautam Adani, denying the accusations and saying they were “disappointing”. In response to the series of social media posts released by the BJP on “X”, which included accusations that it was behind an investigative reporting portal OCCRP, the U.S. government said it had been a “champion of media freedom around the world”, and does not influence editorial decisions by these organisations. 

“It is disappointing that the ruling party in India would make these kinds of accusations,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi told The Hindu. “The U.S. has long been a champion of media freedom around the world. A free and independent press is an essential component of any democracy, enabling informed and constructive debate and holding those in power accountable,” the spokesperson added, in an apparent reference to the BJP handle’s allegation that news reports including a story in the Financial Times linking Mr. Modi and Mr. Adani and a series of reports in the OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) on the Adani group’s projects in Kenya and Myanmar, had been funded by the US State department. In addition, the BJP had referred to OCCRP reports on Pegasus spy software used for the surveillance of Indian journalists and on Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

This is the first time the ruling party has directly attacked the U.S. government for stories that are critical of the Modi government which it said had a damaging impact on “India’s image”. The strong statements exchanged indicate a new low in ties between New Delhi and Washington, that have been under a strain over indictments in the case against an Indian official for an alleged assassination plot on Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani activist in the US, and a number of other developments in the U.S. Earlier this year, the MEA had summoned a senior US diplomat after the U.S. State department had commented on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and had sharply objected to the U.S. State Department’s report on Religious Freedom in India.

The latest controversy comes days after the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchanges Commission filed indictments in U.S. courts implicating Mr. Adani and members of his family and group for bribery, exchanges fraud and other violations of U.S. law. 

The Ministry of External Affairs has thus far refused to comment on the statements made by both the BJP and the U.S. Embassy response. Last week, the MEA spokesperson had distanced the government from the Adani indictment.

The U.S. Embassy spokesperson did not deny the allegation it was funding of groups like OCCRP, but said that the U.S. government “works with independent organizations on programming that supports professional development and capacity building training for journalists,” adding that this “programming does not influence the editorial decisions or direction of these organisations”.

The BJP, had, in its posts and a number of press statements cited an investigation in the French media agency Mediaparte to back its claims that the U.S. government through USAID, the State department’s development assistance arm, had an inordinate influence over the reportage undertaken by OCCRP, that is shared with a consortium of news agencies worldwide. 

“It has always been the US State department behind this agenda”, the BJP had said. “In fact, 50% of OCCRP’s funding comes directly from the U.S. State Department. OCCRP has served as a media tool for carrying out a Deep State agenda,” it said a post, adding that the “Deep State had a clear objective to destabilise India by targeting Prime Minister Modi”. 

Building on its allegation of a political conspiracy involving various arms of the U.S. Government, and specifically the Biden Administration, the BJP had cited the presence of USAID Administrator Samantha Power in Uzbekistan at the same time as Congress Leader of the Party in parliament Rahul Gandhi, as well as Mr. Gandhi’s visits to the U.S. and U.K. as proof of its accusations.

“For instance, during his secret visit to Uzbekistan last year, Samantha Power, the administrator of USAID (which funds OCCRP), was also present… The Deep State is an evil force that has brought nothing but destruction,” said the post, which also linked the stories to US businessman George Soros. It then alleged that the Congress party held press conferences to comment on the OCCRP’s reports, to “launch attacks on PM Modi, propagate false narratives, and disrupt the functioning of Parliament,” it said, naming the “U.S. Deep State” a popular term referring to US intelligence agencies. 

The comments by the BJP are unusual but could indicate a decision to attack the Biden administration that has been voted out in the U.S., with an appraisal that this would not affect ties with the incoming Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel as well as Director of National Intelligence designate Tulsi Gabbard have frequently targeted the American “Deep State” as well. Mr. Patel’s book “Government Gangsters” was described by Mr. Trump as a “roadmap to end the Deep State’s reign”. While the attack on the Deep State may not have raised eyebrows in Washington, the direct reference to U.S. government agencies like the U.S. State Department, USAID and specific officials is a serious escalation in the accusations, however. 

Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

International Holding Co’s (IHC) outlook on investments in India’s Adani Group remains unchanged, the Abu Dhabi conglomerate said following the U.S. indictment of billionaire Gautam Adani.

“Our partnership with the Adani Group reflects our confidence in their contributions to the green energy and sustainability sectors,” IHC said in a statement on Wednesday (November 27, 2024).

“As with all our investments, our team continues to evaluate relevant information and developments. At this time, our outlook on these investments remains unchanged.”

Last week, U.S. authorities accused Mr. Adani, his nephew and executive director Sagar Adani and the managing director of Adani Green, Vneet S. Jaain, of being part of a scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure Indian power supply contracts.

The ports-to-power conglomerate denied the charges as “baseless” and vowed to seek “all possible legal recourse”.

In October last year, IHC boosted its stake in Adani Enterprises to more than 5% after it sold down its investments in two other Adani companies. At the time, IHC said Adani Enterprises, the group’s flagship company, was “uniquely poised to capitalise on India’s robust growth journey”.

The increased investment came after short seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate in January last year of stock manipulation and significantly high debt levels. Adani Group denied those allegations.

Adani and an IHC subsidiary last year formed a technology joint venture to create a platform to use AI and enterprise blockchain products to work on the digitisation of the Indian economy.

Adani Green, the company at the centre of the indictment, said on Wednesday Gautam Adani had been charged in the United States for alleged violations of securities law and faced potential fines but had not been charged under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

In a stock exchange filing, Adani Green said a complaint by U.S. regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sought “an order directing the defendants to pay civil monetary penalties (but) it does not quantify the amount of penalty”.

The civil action launched by the SEC runs in parallel to U.S. federal prosecutors’ indictment against Mr. Adani and others.

A statement on Wednesday said Adani officials are “only charged” with securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and securities fraud.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

The Adani Group conglomerate said Wednesday (November 27, 2024) it had suffered a staggering loss of nearly $55 billion since U.S. corruption charges against top officials, accusations the company denies.

“Since the intimation of the U.S. DoJ (Department of Justice) indictment, the group has suffered a loss of near $55 billion in its market capitalisation across its 11 listed companies,” it said in a statement.

The November 20 bombshell indictment in New York accused billionaire industrialist founder Gautam Adani and multiple subordinates of deliberately misleading international investors as part of the bribery scheme.

It said they had “devised a scheme to offer, authorise, make and promise to make bribes payments to Indian government officials”.

Adani Group issued a stiff denial, describing the charges as “baseless”.

Editorial | ​Shielding Adani: On the U.S. indictment, the Indian government’s stand

A statement on Wednesday said Adani officials are “only charged” with securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and securities fraud.

Adani was at one point the world’s second-richest man.

The group said the action had led to “significant repercussions”, including “international project cancellations, financial market impact and sudden examination from strategic partners, investors and the public”.

With a business empire spanning coal, airports, cement and media, Adani Group has weathered previous corporate fraud allegations and suffered a similar stock crash last year.

The conglomerate saw $150 billion wiped from its market value in 2023 after a report by short-seller Hindenburg Research accused it of “brazen” corporate fraud.

Denying Hindenburg’s allegations, Adani called its report a “deliberate attempt” to damage its image for the benefit of short-sellers.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A U.S. court indicted billionaire Gautam Adani and seven others including his nephew Sagar and three other executives on charges of fraud and bribery. The case pertained to a deal between Adani Green Energy and a U.S. seller for 12 gigawatts of solar power to be sold to various States. The charges came on a day when the firm planned a green bond launch in the US. The Adani subsidiary eventually cancelled the sale.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Mr. Adani, founder and chairman of the Adani Group, with allegedly defrauding American investors and bribing officials. The SEC alleged that the bribery scheme was orchestrated to enable renewable energy companies Adani Green and Azure Power to capitalise on a multi-billion-dollar solar energy project awarded by the Indian government. The complaint charges them with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and seeks permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and officer and director bars.

Adani’s stocks nosedived as reports of a possible arrest of one of India’s richest businessmen loomed large. The Congress, which has repeatedly sought a JPC probe into the “Adani Mega Scam,” said its stand has been vindicated. The BJP, however, questioned the timing of the indictment.

This is not the first time Mr. Adani is facing a legal tussle overseas. There are at least six other deals such as the Carmichael coal mine project in Australia, and Sri Lanka’s windpower project.

U.S.-based short-seller Hindenburg Research in 2023 accused the Adani conglomerate of improper extensive use of entities set up in offshore tax havens and expressed concern about high debt levels. It followed up with another report this year alleging that SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband had undisclosed investments in obscure offshore funds in Bermuda and Mauritius, the same entities allegedly used by Vinod Adani to round-trip funds and inflate stock prices.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani speaks during an inauguration ceremony after the Adani Group completed the purchase of Haifa Port earlier in January 2023, in Haifa port, Israel January 31, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Asserting that the relationship between India and the U.S. is built on a strong foundation, the White House has expressed confidence that it can navigate the ongoing crisis surrounding bribery charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.

At her daily news conference, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday (November 21, 2024) that the administration is aware of the charges against Mr. Adani.

Mr. Adani has been charged by U.S. prosecutors for allegedly being part of a scheme to pay over $250 million (about ₹2,100 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.

“Obviously we’re aware of these allegations, and I would have to refer you to the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] and DOJ [Department of Justice] about the specifics of those allegations against the Adani Group,” she said.    

“What I will say is on the U.S. and India relationship, we believe that it stands on an extremely strong foundation anchored in ties between our people and cooperation across a full range of global issues,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

“What we believe and we’re confident about is that we’ll continue to navigate this issue as we have with other issues that may have come up as you just stated. And so the specifics of this, this is something that the SEC and DOJ can speak to directly, but again, we believe that…this relationship between India and the U.S. has been built on a strong foundation,” the Press Secretary said.

Gautam Adani. Files
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has issued a five-count criminal indictment of Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, and several of his business associates. The charges include promising more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts, conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud, and orchestrating “a multi-billion dollar scheme” to defraud U.S. investors and global financial institutions by giving “false and misleading statements”. The indictment was unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York late on November 20, 2024.

Gautam Adani U.S. indictment LIVE updates: Adani Group denies ‘baseless’ allegations; Rahul Gandhi demands businessman’s arrest

In a parallel move, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also charged Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani (Gautam’s nephew and head of Adani Green Energy), along with Cyril Cabanes, a top executive of Azure Power Global Limited, (a New Delhi-headquartered renewable energy company that used to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange), with a massive bribery scheme involving Adani Green and Azure Power.

While the Department of Justice’s indictment constitutes a criminal case, the SEC’s is a civil complaint and if proved, could result in a “permanent injunction, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar”. The SEC’s complaints were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Gautam Adani indicted in US: What do we know so far?

Reacting to these developments, Adani Green Energy Limited has withdrawn its proposed $600 million U.S. dollar denominated bond offering. Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday (November 21, 2024.)

What does the indictment say?

The indictment concerns the actions of the defendants between 2020 and 2024. The defendants are Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, Executive Director of Adani Green Energy, Vneet S. Jaain, former CEO of Adani Green Energy, Ranjit Gupta, former CEO of Azure Power Global, Cyril Cabanes, a former managing director at CDPQ, a Canadian pension fund which is also a majority stockholder of Azure Power, Saurabh Agarwal, former managing director of CDPQ India, Deepak Malhotra, former executive of CDPQ, and Rupesh Agarwal, former CEO of Azure Power.

Under the U.S.’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 1977 (FCPA), it is unlawful to make payments to foreign government officials in a bid to obtain or retain business. It is also a criminal offence to raise money by misleading investors about key corporate governance practices, which this case concerns compliance with the FCPA. Further, it is unlawful to obstruct federal investigations by giving false information and destroying evidence such as electronic communications. It is also a separate offence to hide the authorisation of bribery practices in company annual reports. The defendants have been charged with offences on all these counts.

Allegations and scandals against the Adani Group: A timeline

According to the indictment, starting in 2020, the defendants authorised and collaborated on a scheme to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials in order to secure solar power purchase contracts for Adani Green Energy and Azure Power from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a company of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy whose mission is to increase the use of renewable-energy in India.

The U.S. DoJ indictment has alleged that the Adanis resorted to a bribery scheme because SECI was unable to find buyers among State distribution companies (discoms) for the Adanis’ solar power, whose price was above market rates. But many State discoms did subsequently sign sale agreements with SECI to buy the Adanis’ more expensive renewable power.

The indictment notes that “following the promise of bribes to Indian government officials — between July 2021 and February 2022 — electricity distribution companies for the States and regions of Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh entered into PSAs [Power Sale Agreements) with SECI”. Further, “Andhra Pradesh’s electricity distribution companies entered into a PSA with SECI on or about December 1, 2021” after which the State agreed to purchase approximately seven gigawatts of solar power, by far the largest amount of any Indian State or region.”

And then, to fund the operations of Adani Green Energy and its subsidiaries, the defendants committed securities fraud and wire fraud (any fraud that uses electronic communications through the U.S.) by hiding their FCPA violations to obtain bank loans worth more than $2 billion from international financial institutions and U.S.-based asset management companies. Also, by “offering more than $1 billion in securities” that were marketed and sold to investors in the U.S., Adani Green Energy and its directors “relied on the United States’ financial system to perpetrate this fraudulent scheme by….causing wires to be sent and received that passed through the United States.”

Adani indictment in U.S. vindicates demand for JPC probe, says Congress

The Adani Group has denied the allegations of the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC, terming them “baseless”. In a statement, a spokesperson for the conglomerate said, “As stated by the U.S. Department of Justice itself, ‘the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.’ All possible legal recourse will be sought. The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations.”

Gautam Adani. Files
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has issued a five-count criminal indictment of Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, and several of his business associates. The charges include promising more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts, conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud, and orchestrating “a multi-billion dollar scheme” to defraud U.S. investors and global financial institutions by giving “false and misleading statements”. The indictment was unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York late on November 20, 2024.

Gautam Adani U.S. indictment LIVE updates: Adani Group denies ‘baseless’ allegations; Rahul Gandhi demands businessman’s arrest

In a parallel move, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also charged Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani (Gautam’s nephew and head of Adani Green Energy), along with Cyril Cabanes, a top executive of Azure Power Global Limited, (a New Delhi-headquartered renewable energy company that used to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange), with a massive bribery scheme involving Adani Green and Azure Power.

While the Department of Justice’s indictment constitutes a criminal case, the SEC’s is a civil complaint and if proved, could result in a “permanent injunction, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar”. The SEC’s complaints were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Reacting to these developments, Adani Green Energy Limited has withdrawn its proposed $600 million U.S. dollar denominated bond offering. Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday (November 21, 2024.)

What does the indictment say?

The indictment concerns the actions of the defendants between 2020 and 2024. The defendants are Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, Executive Director of Adani Green Energy, Vneet S. Jaain, former CEO of Adani Green Energy, Ranjit Gupta, former CEO of Azure Power Global, Cyril Cabanes, a former managing director at CDPQ, a Canadian pension fund which is also a majority stockholder of Azure Power, Saurabh Agarwal, former managing director of CDPQ India, Deepak Malhotra, former executive of CDPQ, and Rupesh Agarwal, former CEO of Azure Power.

Under the U.S.’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 1977 (FCPA), it is unlawful to make payments to foreign government officials in a bid to obtain or retain business. It is also a criminal offence to raise money by misleading investors about key corporate governance practices, which this case concerns compliance with the FCPA. Further, it is unlawful to obstruct federal investigations by giving false information and destroying evidence such as electronic communications. It is also a separate offence to hide the authorisation of bribery practices in company annual reports. The defendants have been charged with offences on all these counts.

Allegations and scandals against the Adani Group: A timeline

According to the indictment, starting in 2020, the defendants authorised and collaborated on a scheme to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials in order to secure solar power purchase contracts for Adani Green Energy and Azure Power from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a company of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy whose mission is to increase the use of renewable-energy in India.

The U.S. DoJ indictment has alleged that the Adanis resorted to a bribery scheme because SECI was unable to find buyers among State distribution companies (discoms) for the Adanis’ solar power, whose price was above market rates. But many State discoms did subsequently sign sale agreements with SECI to buy the Adanis’ more expensive renewable power.

The indictment notes that “following the promise of bribes to Indian government officials — between July 2021 and February 2022 — electricity distribution companies for the States and regions of Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh entered into PSAs [Power Sale Agreements) with SECI”. Further, “Andhra Pradesh’s electricity distribution companies entered into a PSA with SECI on or about December 1, 2021” after which the State agreed to purchase approximately seven gigawatts of solar power, by far the largest amount of any Indian State or region.”

And then, to fund the operations of Adani Green Energy and its subsidiaries, the defendants committed securities fraud and wire fraud (any fraud that uses electronic communications through the U.S.) by hiding their FCPA violations to obtain bank loans worth more than $2 billion from international financial institutions and U.S.-based asset management companies. Also, by “offering more than $1 billion in securities” that were marketed and sold to investors in the U.S., Adani Green Energy and its directors “relied on the United States’ financial system to perpetrate this fraudulent scheme by….causing wires to be sent and received that passed through the United States.”

Adani indictment in U.S. vindicates demand for JPC probe, says Congress

The Adani Group has denied the allegations of the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC, terming them “baseless”. In a statement, a spokesperson for the conglomerate said, “As stated by the U.S. Department of Justice itself, ‘the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.’ All possible legal recourse will be sought. The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations.”

Adani Group’s plunged up to 20% on Thursday after he was indicted by U.S. prosecutors on charges he duped investors in a solar energy project in India by concealing that it was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme.

In an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday (November 20, 2024), Gautam Adani, 62, was charged with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud.

Also read: Gautam Adani U.S. indictment LIVE 

The flagship company Adani Enterprises witnessed a sharp decline of 20% in its share value, while Adani Energy Solutions experienced an identical drop. Adani Green Energy saw a reduction of 19.17%, Adani Total Gas decreased by 18.14%, Adani Power fell by 17.79%, and Adani Ports registered a 15% decline on the BSE.

Adani Enterprises

Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) is a multinational publicly-listed holding company and a part of Adani Group. Through its various subsidiaries, Adani Enterprises is involved in edible oils and staple foods, airport operations, solar PV manufacturing, road infrastructure, among several other sectors.

Adani Green Energy

Adani Green Energy Limited is one of the largest renewable companies in India, with a current project portfolio of 20,434 MW. The company operates Kamuthi Solar Power Project, one of the largest solar photovoltaic plants in the world.

Adani Power Limited

Adani Power Limited, a part of the diversified Adani Group, is the largest private thermal power producer in India. APL possesses a power generation capacity of 15,250 MW comprising thermal power plants in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand, and a 40 MW solar power project in Gujarat.

Adani Total Gas

Adani Transmission

Headquartered in Ahmedabad, Adani transmission is one of India’s largest private sector electric power transmission companies.

Adani Wilmar

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) is the largest commercial ports operator in India accounting for nearly one-fourth of the cargo movement in the country. Its presence across 13 domestic ports in seven maritime states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

ACC

Ambuja Cements

NDTV

Share market data from The Hindu Businessline