Adani Group founder and chairman, Gautam Adani, alongside seven other executives, has been indicted in the United States on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), as reported by Reuters. The charges, announced in Brooklyn federal court, allege that the defendants orchestrated a complex bribery scheme to secure solar energy contracts in India and misled international investors to raise over $3 billion.
The five-count criminal indictment was unsealed by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Reuters reported citing US prosecutors.
According to the indictment on the US justice department website, the accused paid more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to secure lucrative energy contracts projected to generate over $2 billion in post-tax profits across two decades.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, “A five-count criminal indictment was unsealed in federal court charging Gautam Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain, with 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 on the basis of false and misleading statements.”
Bribery and Corruption Allegations
The alleged scheme involved direct engagement by Gautam Adani, who reportedly held personal meetings with Indian officials to advance the bribery plot. Evidence includes electronic communications, detailed spreadsheets, and photographs of documents tracking bribe amounts. Sagar Adani is said to have used his mobile phone to document specifics of the bribes, while Vneet S. Jaain captured a summary of the bribe payments.
As reported by PTI, Lisa H. Miller, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, highlighted the case’s severity, stating, “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. These offenses were allegedly committed by senior executives and directors to obtain and finance massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of U.S. investors.”
The indictment also charges 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 the alleged bribery scheme.
“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,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace as reported by ANI.
What are the allegations against Gautam Adani and co-defendants?
The case revolves around Adani Green Energy Ltd. and another company’s agreement to sell 12 gigawatts of solar power to the Indian government. According to U.S. prosecutors, Adani and his co-defendants falsified records to secure billions of dollars in investments from Wall Street while simultaneously orchestrating a scheme to pay or plan to pay over $250 million million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure lucrative energy contracts.
Key Allegations:
Falsifying Records: Adani and his associates are accused of deceiving U.S. investors by providing false information about the company’s compliance with anti-bribery laws and internal controls.
Bribery Scheme: Prosecutors allege the defendants bribed Indian officials to win state energy supply contracts expected to generate over $2 billion in profits over 20 years.
Misrepresentation to Investors: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claims that Gautam and Sagar Adani misled investors by falsely asserting that Adani Green Energy maintained a robust anti-bribery compliance program and that its executives had not engaged in or promised to engage in bribery.
