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New York prosecutors charging one of India's richest men with bribery said his associates used Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint to discuss and analyze their corrupt payments.
Gautam Adani, the founder of the Indian conglomerate Adani Group, is accused by federal prosecutors of promising more than $250 million in bribes to Indian officials for solar panel contracts and then hiding the payments from investors.
Two senior executives of his energy subsidiary, Adani Green Energy, were named as defendants: his nephew, Sagar Adani, and a managing director, Vneet Jaain.
Prosecutors also charged four executives and stakeholders of another India-based company, Azure Power Global, saying they conspired with Adani to facilitate the bribes and later conceal them.
The indictment against the eight men said the Azure team used Excel and PowerPoint presentations to "determine which corrupt payment option was best."
Officials said the Azure execs were figuring out how to reimburse Adani about $80 million for their share of the bribes since the billionaire's team handled the payments.
So the Azure team discussed their options with presentations created by Rupesh Agarwal, a consultant for Azure and one of the defendants, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said that in one PowerPoint presentation, Agarwal detailed a list of ways that Azure could financially return the favor to Adani.
These options included handing over an energy project to Adani, entering a joint venture with him in the US, or paying the billionaire's firm through a "development fee," per the indictment.
The Azure execs are also accused of later trying to conceal their involvement by deleting text messages and at least one PowerPoint presentation.
An attorney for Cyril Cabanes, one of the defendants associated with Azure Power Global, told Business Insider he had no comment on the allegations related to the Excel and PowerPoint presentations.
The Adani Group and attorneys for the other defendants did not respond to requests for comment from BI.
Although the Adani Group's companies are not listed on US markets, US authorities have stepped in because the Indian conglomerate has been raising billions with international banks and American investors.
Prosecutors said that during this period, the Adani Group falsely told investors at least four times that it had not paid bribes.
As for Azure, the energy firm was on the New York Stock Exchange until November 2023, when the company was delisted by the exchange's committee.
The Eastern District of New York is prosecuting the bribery case and said the Adani Group had stood to profit about $2 billion from the contracts acquired through bribes.
Notably, two other "co-conspirators," a British citizen living in Hong Kong and an Indian citizen, were mentioned but not named.
In a statement on its website on Thursday, the Adani Group said the prosecution's accusations are "baseless and denied."
"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," the statement read.
As of press time, shares of companies owned by the Adani Group, including its main firm Adani Enterprises and Adani Green Energy, have plunged some 25% since the indictment made headlines on Wednesday.
The SEC on Wednesday also charged Adani and his nephew, Sagar, with violating antifraud provisions, asking for civil penalties, permanent injunctions, and the barring of both from officer or director positions.
