Billionaire Gautam Adani of India’s Adani Group charged in US with bribery, fraud

NEW YORK: Gautam Adani, the billionaire chairman of Indian conglomerate Adani Group and one of the world’s richest men, has been indicted in New York for his role in an alleged multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme, US officials said. prosecutors said Wednesday.

Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials in anticipation of $2 billion in profits over 20 years and India’s largest oil company, officials said. A large solar power plant project can be developed.

Prosecutors also said Adani and another Adani Green Energy executive, former CEO Vineet Jain, raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds by hiding their corruption from lenders and investors.

According to an indictment, some of the conspirators referred to Gautam Adani privately with the code names of “Number Uno” and “The Big Man” while Sagar Adani allegedly visited his cell to find out details about the bribe. Used the phone.

Adani Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours in India, where the charges were announced on Thursday morning.

India’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and lawyers for the defendants could not immediately be identified.

Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Jain were charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, and the Adanis were also indicted in a US Securities and Exchange Commission civil case.

Five other defendants were charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a US anti-bribery law, and four with conspiracy to obstruct justice.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Brian Pace in Brooklyn said no defendants were in custody. Gautam Adani is believed to be in India.

Built an empire

According to Forbes magazine, Adani, 62, is worth $69.8 billion and is one of the few billionaires to be formally charged with criminal wrongdoing in the United States.

His fortune makes him the 22nd richest person in the world, and the second richest person in India after Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani. Forbes said.

Adani grew up in the Indian state of Gujarat and left school at the age of 16.

He founded the Adani Group in 1988 as a commodities trading firm and built a business empire that includes airports, shipping ports, power generation, energy transmission and mining companies.

The charges were announced on Wednesday hours after Adani raised $600 million by selling 20-year “green” bonds.

This comes almost two years after US short sellers Hindenburg Research accused the Adani group of improperly using offshore tax havens, which the company denied.

Hindenburg’s January 2023 report triggered a nearly $150 billion drop in Adani Group’s stocks.

Adani plans investment, congratulates Trump

Others charged with criminal charges on Wednesday include former CEO and former chief strategy and commercial officer of Azure Power Global Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, respectively, who authorities said agreed to pay bribes. has been revealed.

The remaining criminal defendants worked for Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, a Canadian institutional investor, and included Cyril Cabanes, who was also a director of Azure. He was also accused of wrongdoing by the SEC.

Prosecutors said all the defendants are Indian nationals, except Kabins, a dual French-Australian citizen who lives in Singapore.

According to court records, a judge has issued arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, and prosecutors plan to hand those warrants over to foreign law enforcement agencies.

Last week, Gautam Adani posted on social media platform X that his group planned to invest $10 billion in US energy security and infrastructure projects, creating a potential 15,000 jobs. Without any timetable.

While announcing the investment, Adani also congratulated US President-elect Donald Trump on his election victory.

Trump has promised to make it easier for energy companies to drill and build new pipelines on federal land.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also from Gujarat, has been accused by political opponents of protecting Adani and his companies, including the Hindenburg allegations. Modi has dismissed the opposition’s claims as “lies and abuse”.