US Charges Gautam Adani With Fraud Over Bribery Scheme

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Technology|U.S. Charges Indian Billionaire Adani With Fraud Over Bribery Scheme

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/technology/gautam-adani-bribery-charges.html

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U.S. Charges Indian Billionaire Adani With Fraud Over Bribery Scheme

Gautam Adani and his associates were accused of paying more than $250 million in bribes to obtain lucrative solar energy contracts.

Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest people, has been charged with multiple counts of fraud and accused of bribing Indian officials and later lying to investors about the scheme.Credit…Ajit Solanki/Associated Press

Published Nov. 20, 2024Updated Nov. 21, 2024, 6:04 a.m. ET

Federal prosecutors in New York charged the Indian tycoon Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest people, with multiple counts of fraud on Wednesday, accusing him and associates of bribing Indian officials and later lying to investors about the scheme.

Mr. Adani, who has amassed a fortune estimated to be over $85 billion from the Adani Group, a conglomerate with holdings in ports, coal mines and airports, was charged with wire and securities fraud by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, the office said in a statement.

The defendants are accused of paying more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain solar energy contracts worth billions of dollars for Adani Green Energy, a renewable energy company majority-owned by Adani Group. Mr. Adani discussed the bribery plan with officials in person, prosecutors said.

Adani Green Energy then tried to raise money from U.S. and international investors with a 2021 bond offering on the basis of false and misleading statements about the firm’s anti-corruption and anti-bribery efforts, according to the indictment.

“As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars,” Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the district, said in a statement. Mr. Adani and his associates “lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from U.S. and international investors.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a parallel civil case saying Adani Green Energy raised more than $175 million from U.S. investors. One of Mr. Adani’s associates was charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits companies that operate in the United States from bribing foreign officials.

Other executives at Mr. Adani’s energy company who were charged Wednesday included Sagar R. Adani, a nephew of Mr. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain. The government also indicted former employees of a Canadian institutional investor, including Deepak Malhotra, who are accused of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiring to obstruct investigations into the bribery scheme and a grand jury.