Gautam Adani is accused of fraud by the US
who is one of the wealthiest men in Asia and whose company empire encompasses renewable energy, ports, and airports.
Prosecutors claimed in the indictment that the businessman and other top executives had consented to pay Indian officials in order to secure contracts for his renewable energy company,
which is anticipated to generate over $2 billion in earnings over the course of 20 years.
The Adani Group has referred to the accusations as "baseless" and disputed them.
“All possible legal recourse will be sought,” the statement read.
The group’s main company, Adani Enterprises, had a 22% decline in share price on Thursday. Other group companies also experienced a negative closure. The company at the heart of the accusations, Adani Green Energy, declared it would not go ahead with a $600 million bond sale.
Since 2023, when US short-seller Hindenburg Research released a report accusing the corporation of decades of “brazen” stock manipulation and accounting fraud, it has been functioning under a shadow.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), India’s market regulator, launched an investigation after Mr. Adani refuted the allegations, which led to a significant market sell-off.
Madhabi Puri Buch, the head of Sebi, was then accused by Hindenburg of having connections to offshore funds utilized by the Adani group; however, both the group and Ms. Buch have refuted this. However, one of the group’s greatest obstacles has been the US indictment. In addition to Mr. Adani, his nephew is one of seven other accused. For months, there have been rumors regarding the company’s bribery investigation. According to the prosecution, the US began looking into the business in 2022 but discovered that it was blocked. They claim that executives obtained $3 billion in bonds and loans, including from US companies, based on allegations of the bribery investigation and false and deceptive claims about the company’s anti-bribery rules and practices.
In a statement announcing the charges, US Attorney Breon Peace stated, “As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars and… lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from U.S. and international investors.”He continued, “My office is dedicated to eliminating corruption in the global marketplace and safeguarding investors against those who would undermine the integrity of our financial markets in order to enrich themselves.” According to officials, Mr. Adani personally met with government representatives on multiple occasions to further the bribery plot.
