Arrest warrants in US against Adani, nephew
A New York court has issued arrest warrants against Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of Adani Group, and his nephew, Sagar Adani, following their indictment in the US along with six others on charges of bribery of $265 million (around Rs 2,238 crore).
Editorial: Adani in trouble
US prosecutors alleged that Adani, Sagar and the six others paid bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy supply contracts yielding $2 billion in profits over 20 years.
- $265 mn ‘bribery’ case: NY court indicts Adani Group chief, 7 others
- Indian officials ‘paid off’ to bag solar energy supply contracts
- Deals yield $2 bn in profits to conglomerate over 20 years
The US District Court has issued a five-count criminal indictment of Adani and seven others. The charges include promising $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts, conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and orchestrating “a multi-billion dollar scheme” to defraud US investors and global financial institutions by giving “false and misleading statements”. Adani and the others have been indicted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in New York for allegedly violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). A complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
“As alleged in the indictment, between 2020 and 2024, the defendants agreed to pay $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian Government, which were projected to generate more than $2 billion in profits after tax over an approximately 20-year period (the bribery scheme),” said an official release.
The release issued by the US Attorney Office, Eastern District of New York, stated that on several occasions, Adani personally met 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.
“Adani and the 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,” stated FBI Assistant Director in-charge James E Dennehy.
The Adani Group has rejected the allegations made by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice following charges of fraud and bribery involving several key figures from the conglomerate. In a statement, the group described the allegations as “baseless.”
“The allegations are baseless and denied,” a spokesperson for the Adani Group said. “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.” The spokesperson said all possible legal recourse would be sought.
Fresh charges against India’s second-richest man
Eight who’ve been charged
Gautam Adani; his nephew and Adani Green executive director Sagar Adani, its CEO Vneet S Jaain; Azure Power’s ex-CEO Ranjit Gupta, ex-chief strategy and commercial officer Rupesh Agarwal, ex-member of the Board of Directors Cyril Cabanes; and Canadian firm CDPQ’s ex-employees Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra (both linked to Cabanes).
Defrauded US investors
- Adani and the others have been indicted for raising money for a “bribery scheme” from US investors.
- The group raised $2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, based on false and misleading statements.
How ‘kickbacks’ paid for PSU contracts powered Adani firms
- Dec 2019-July 2020 PSU Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) contracted to buy 12 GW solar power from Adani Green & Azure Power; SECI looks for discoms in states to buy power
- 2020 Project is jeopardised as SECI struggles to find buyers due to high pricing; Adani, Sagar & others devise scheme to pay bribes to Indian government officials in quid pro quo for buyers
- Aug to Nov 2021 Adani meets an Andhra official, who is later offered $207 mn after which state discoms agree to buy 7 GW power; officials in other states offered $33 mn bribe for similar pacts; Suraj tracks bribe details via mobile
- 2021 to Feb 2022 Discoms in Odisha, J&K, TN, Chhattisgarh & Andhra sign pacts with SECI for power, which it is to buy from Azure & Adani Green
- April to June 2022 Azure CEO Ranjit Gupta is asked to quit; mechanism on how Azure will repay Adani Green $83 mn for its share of bribes is worked out — 2.3 GW pact with SECI to be returned, further awarded to Adani Green
- March 2023 FBI agents approach Sagar in US with search warrant, seize gadgets, serve him with a subpoena; details of offences, entities being probed shared with Adani
- March 2024 SECI allows reallocation of purchase deals for 2.3 GW power from Azure to Adani Green
Charges baseless, compliant with laws: Adani
The Adani Group has termed the allegations “baseless” and said it is compliant with all laws. “The allegations against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” its spokesperson said in a statement, adding all possible legal recourse would be sought.
