Indian tycoon indicted in US for alleged fraud at home

US Prosecutors have accused billionaire Gautam Adani of bribing Indian government officials to win solar power contracts

US prosecutors on Wednesday indicted Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, for allegedly paying $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure “lucrative” solar power contracts with electricity distribution companies.

In its indictment, the federal court in Brooklyn named Adani – along with his nephew Sagar Adani, who heads Adani Green Energy, the renewable energy arm of the conglomerate, and its managing director Vneet S. Jaain – for their alleged “roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from US investors and global financial institutions on the basis of false and misleading statements.” 

The charge list also names five other people who were allegedly “connected” to the “bribery scheme.” 

“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,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Miller, according to a press release issued by the US Attorney’s Office on Wednesday. 

“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 statement noted, adding: “The Criminal Division will continue to aggressively prosecute corrupt, deceptive, and obstructive conduct that violates U.S. law, no matter where in the world it occurs.” 

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The share prices of Adani Group companies crashed by up to 20% on Thursday following the charges.

The group has rejected the claims as “baseless” and vowed that “all possible legal recourse will be sought.” The group stressed that indictment lists mere “allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.” However, Adani Green Energy noted in an exchange filing that it would not to proceed with proposed dollar-denominated bond offerings due to the indictment against its board members.

The development comes days after Adani, India’s second richest man with a net worth of over $86 billion, congratulated US President-elect Donald Trump on his election victory and announced plans to invest $10 billion on energy and infrastructure projects in the US that he claimed would generate 15,000 jobs. 

The indictment also marks a significant escalation in legal challenges faced by the tycoon, who has been under scrutiny since January 2023, when US-based short seller Hindenburg Research alleged that Adani had engaged in stock market manipulation.

READ MORE: Indian group blasts ‘baseless’ allegations by US short seller

The Adani Group has denied all the allegations and linked them to “Soros-funded interests” after investigative platform Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and key Western media outlets, including the Financial Times and the Guardian published investigations claiming the Adani family had “secretly” invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” in the Indian stock market to buy its own shares.

OCCRP lists foundations of the American investor-turned-philanthropist George Soros among its donors. It is also backed by the US State Department, the UK Foreign Office and various global funds. The allegations first raised by Hindenburg led to a substantial drop in Adani group’s market capitalisation and Gautam’s own net worth.