Adani Group Shares: India’s billionaire Gautam Adani and seven other senior business executives are indicated in the United States of America (USA) for bribes worth $265 million to US investors. A five-count criminal indictment has been unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn.

As per the United States Attorney’s Office report, on November 20, Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jain along with executives of an Indian renewable-energy company (the Indian Energy Company) were charged in the federal court of Brooklyn.

They were indicted for conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from U.S. investors and global financial institutions based on false and misleading statements.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney, said, “As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars and Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from U.S. and international investors.”

The Attorney added, “My Office is committed to rooting out corruption in the international marketplace and protecting investors from those who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets.”

Further, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa H. Miller, said 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.

Miller added 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.”

Moreover, FBI Assistant Director in Charge James E. Dennehy, said that Adani and other defendants also defrauded investors by raising capital on the basis of false statements about bribery and corruption, while still other defendants allegedly attempted to conceal the bribery conspiracy by obstructing the government’s investigation.

Apart from this, the indictment also Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of a renewable-energy company with securities that had traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the U.S. Issuer), and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of a Canadian institutional investor, with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with a bribery scheme also perpetrated by Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, involving one of the world’s largest solar energy projects.

Background:

As per the statement of the US Attorney’s Office, between approximately 2020 and 2024, the accused bribed Indian government officials to pay more than $265 million for obtaining lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian government. These were projected to generate more than $2 billion in profits after tax over an approximately 20-year period (the Bribery Scheme).

The report also revealed that on many occasions Gautam Adani personally met with an Indian government official to advance the Bribery Scheme, and the defendants held in-person meetings with each other to discuss aspects of its execution.

It was further revealed that it was during these periods that Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain allegedly conspired to misrepresent the Indian Energy Company’s anti-bribery and corruption practices and conceal the Bribery Scheme from U.S. investors and international financial institutions to obtain financing, including to fund those solar energy supply contracts procured through bribery.

However, it said, “The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”

Accordingly, Adani Group shares will be in focus on November 21, following the latest allegations on Gautam Adani and other executives.

Story first published: Thursday, November 21, 2024, 9:03 [IST]