Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani has been charged with fraud in a $250 million bribery scheme by the US court under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law against bribery in foreign business dealings. The federal prosecutors in New York have accused Gautam Adani, along with his seven associates, of bribing Indian officials to get solar energy contracts for the conglomerate’s renewable energy company, Adani Green Energy.
The US court has also alleged that the Adani Group made false and misleading statements to raise funds from international investors for its renewable energy company.
“As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars,” said Breon Peace, the US attorney for the district, according to the NYT. “Conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, as well as substantive securities fraud, for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from US investors and global financial institutions through false and misleading statements,” he added.
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The indictment revealed the Group expected to gain nearly $2 billion over the course of two decades. The US prosecutors mentioned that the people involved in the scheme used code names to refer to Gautam Adani, including “Numero uno”, “the big man”, “Mr. A” and “SAG”. The indictment also stated that a judge has even authorised arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani. The prosecutors are likely to deliver those warrants to international law enforcement.
The US court’s charges against Adani have come just days after the Adani Group chairman congratulated the US President-elect Donald Trump and made an announcement to invest $10 billion in US energy and infrastructure projects.
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“...the Adani Group is committed to leveraging its global expertise and invest $10 billion in US energy security and resilient infrastructure projects, aiming to create up to 15,000 jobs,” said Adani on X.
Adani Group has been on America’s radar for quite some years now. Earlier in January 2023, the American short seller Hindenburg Research alleged the Adani Group of stock manipulation and financial misconduct in a report titled ‘Adani Group: How the World’s 3rd Richest Man is Pulling the Largest Con in Corporate History’. However, Adani Group refuted the allegations.
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