Gautam Adani, chairman of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, speaks at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 gathering in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, January 10, 2024.
Punit Paranjpe | AFP | Getty Images
Gautam Adani, chairman of India’s Adani Group and one of the world’s richest men, has been indicted in New York federal court along with seven others on charges related to a massive bribery and fraud scheme, authorities said Wednesday. .
Adani and several other defendants are accused of paying more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain solar energy supply contracts worth more than $2 billion in profits.
The 62-year-old billionaire and two of Adani Green Energy Limited’s executives, his nephews Sagar Adani and Vneet Jain, had their company’s anti-bribery policy in place when they raised more than $3 billion in capital. He is charged with misleading U.S. and foreign investors about compliance with anti-corruption practices. To fund these energy contracts.
Adanis and Jain are both charged with securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and securities fraud.
The five-count indictment in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn targets Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives at renewable energy company Azure Power Global, and former executives at Canadian institutional investor Azure Power Global. Three employees were also charged. Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec: Cyril Kabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra.
A worker walks past rows of solar panels at Kavda Renewable Energy Park, owned by the Adani Group, in Kavda, India, on January 12, 2024.
Punit Paranjpe | AFP | Getty Images
These defendants are charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with a bribery scheme involving energy company Adani and others.
Mr. Cavaness, Mr. Saurabh Agarwal, Mr. Malhotra, and Mr. Rupesh Agarwal are also charged with conspiring to obstruct federal criminal and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations into the bribery scheme.
Although the crimes at the center of the indictment took place in India, the defendants are being indicted in Brooklyn federal court for alleged acts that occurred in the Eastern District of New York in connection with bribery schemes and capital-raising activities.
These actions included alleged misstatements or omissions of material facts related to the issuance of bonds to finance solar energy contracts.
None of the defendants are in U.S. custody. All defendants except Kabanes reside in India. According to prosecutors, Cabanes is a resident of France and Australia.
The SEC on Wednesday accused Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, as well as Azure Power Global, of bribery charges that allowed Adani Green Energy and Azure to access solar energy contracts signed by the Indian government. filed a civil complaint against Mr. Cabanes, an executive of .
The SEC’s complaint notes that during the alleged scheme, Adani Green raised more than $175 million from U.S. investors, and Azure shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
“Gautam and Sagar Adani paid hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bribes to Indian government officials to secure commitments to purchase energy at above-market rates that benefited Adani Green and Azure Power. or orchestrated a bribery scheme involving a promise to pay,” the SEC said.
“Cavaness and others are suspected of helping authorize bribes to further this scheme both in the United States and abroad,” the agency said.
Gautam Adani is the second richest person in Asia, with a reported net worth of $85 billion.
He lost tens of billions of dollars in personal assets in early 2023 when his short-selling company was assaulted. hindenburg studies A report has been released accusing the Adani Group of engaging in a “brazen stock price manipulation and accounting fraud scheme spanning decades”.
Hindenburg’s report called it “the biggest fraud in corporate history.”
Mr. Adani issued a 413-page response to Mr. Hindenburg, calling the allegations baseless.
