US accuses Gautam Adani of $250 mn bribery and fraud, 12 things to know

A US court has indicted billionaire Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the Adani Group, over his alleged role in a years-long scheme to pay a $250 million bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.

The case pertained to a deal between Adani Green Energy and a US firm to sell 12 gigawatts of solar power to several states.

Gautam Adani US indictment: 12 things to know

1 - The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Gautam Adani with allegedly defrauding American investors and bribing officials.

2 - 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.

3 - Along with Adani, 62, US prosecutors charged seven others, including his nephew Sagar for paying over $250 million in bribes between 2020 and 2024 to Indian government officials to win solar energy contracts on terms that could potentially bring in more than $2 billion in profit.

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4 – The prosecutors alleged that this was concealed from the US banks and investors from whom the Adani group raised billions of dollars for the project.

5 - Adani, chairman of the ports-to-energy Adani Group, his nephew Sagar R Adani, who is an executive director at the conglomerate’s renewable energy arm Adani Green Energy Ltd, and its former CEO Vneet Jaain were charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy

6 – The five-count indictment also accuses Sagar and Jaain of breaking federal laws.

7 – Three former employees of a large Canadian pension fund, CDPQ (which invests in infrastructure projects and is a shareholder in Adani companies) have also been charged in connection with the alleged scheme

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8 – The US prosecutors said that the three former employees of CDPQ obstructed an investigation into the bribes by deleting emails and agreeing to provide false information to the US government.

9 - Others who were criminally charged include Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, respectively a former CEO and former chief strategy and commercial officer of Azure Power Global, which authorities said agreed to pay some of the bribes.

10 - 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.

11 - During the alleged scheme, Adani Green raised more than $175 million from US investors and Azure Power’s stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

12 - Why US prosecutors have indicted Adani? The US law allows pursuing foreign corruption allegations if they involve certain links to American investors or markets.

‘Baseless’ allegations: Adani Group reacts

The Adani Group denied the allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green and called them “baseless”.

“As stated by the US 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,” Adani Group spokesperson said.

“We assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organisation, fully compliant with all laws,” the spokesperson further said.

With inputs from PTI.