The 62-year-old Adani Group boss faces the allegations along with his nephew Sagar Adani and six others in relation to one of the world’s largest solar projects.
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s woes have just worsened. A United States (US) federal court has issued an arrest warrant for one of India’s richest men.
Adani was on Thursday, November 21 charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with allegedly defrauding investors and bribing officials.
The 62-year-old Adani Group boss faces the allegations along with his nephew Sagar Adani and six others in relation to one of the world’s largest solar projects.
Adani and other executives were indicted in New York on Wednesday, November 20 by US prosecutors for their alleged roles in a yearslong, multi-million-dollar bribery and fraud scheme involving plans to develop a major solar power plant.
India’s Adani Group office. /BUSINESS STANDARD
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement that Adani, a key ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and seven other executives, including his nephew Sagar Adani, promised more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts.
According to a report by CNN, the impact of the allegations, which come more than a year after a US short-seller accused Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, was immediately felt across the sprawling conglomerate.
On Thursday, shares in the group’s listed firms fell between 10% and 20%, wiping out just under $30 billion (Ksh3.9 trillion) in total market value according to Reuters data.
The DOJ alleged that the solar energy supply contracts were projected to raise more than $2 billion (Ksh259 billion) in profits after tax over an approximately 20-year period.
Authorities stated that Adani, 62, personally met with an Indian government official to “advance” the scheme, which took place between 2020 to 2024. The defendants frequently met and allegedly discussed the bribery scheme, including evidence on several phones.
“This indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa Miller said in the statement, adding “These offenses were allegedly committed by senior executives and directors to obtain and finance massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of US investors.”
The Indian-based conglomerate on its part in a short and sharply-worded statement penned an instant letter responding to the charges levelled by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, terming the allegations against the directors of Adani Green as baseless and denied.
Notably, this latest news comes after President William Ruto stopped major Adani deals with the Kenyan government.
Ruto in his State of the Nation Address, stopped with immediate effect the takeover of an ongoing Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the government and the Adani Group over the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO).
