Gautam Adani Charged With Bribery And Fraud (Image: X/gautamadani)
Billionaire Gautam Adani, the founder and chairman of Indian conglomerate Adani Group has been charged in the US with bribery and fraud on Wednesday, reported PTI.
The case has been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with allegedly defrauding American investors and bribing officials.
Adani, 62, his nephew Sagar Adani, 30 and other executives of Adani Green Energy Ltd and Azure Power Global Ltd are accused of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, as well as substantive securities fraud.
The SEC alleges that the bribery scheme was orchestrated to enable renewable energy companies Adani Green and Azure Power to capitalise on a multi-billion-dollar solar energy project awarded by the Indian government.
Adani and his associates allegedly paid over $250 million in bribes to obtain solar energy contracts worth more than $2 billion in projected profits after tax over a 20-year period.
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The charges also include violating the antifraud provisions of federal securities laws with the SEC seeking permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and officer and director bars.
Adani Green raised over $175 million from US investors and Azure Power’s stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange during the alleged scheme.
Additionally, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has unsealed criminal charges against Adani, Sagar Adani, and others linked to Adani Green and Azure Power.
The federal indictment charges five others with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with the bribery scheme.
Prosecutors also said that the Adani’s and another executive at Adani Green Energy, Vneet Jaain raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds by hiding their corruption from lenders and investors.
According to an indictment, some conspirators referred privately to Gautam Adani with the code names “Numero uno” and “the big man,” while Sagar Adani allegedly used his cellphone to track specifics about the bribes.
Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Jaain were charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy.
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The other five defendants were charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a US anti-bribery law, according to PTI.
A judge has issued arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani and prosecutors plan to hand those warrants to foreign law enforcement, as per PTI.
