US indicts Gautam Adani in US$250M bribery scandal linked to Indian solar energy contracts

UNITED STATES: Billionaire Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, along with seven others, has been indicted in a Brooklyn federal court for alleged involvement in a multibillion-dollar fraud and bribery scheme, US prosecutors announced on Wednesday (20 November). Adani and two senior executives of Adani Green Energy—his nephew Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain—have been accused of conspiring between 2020 and 2024 to pay over US$250 million in bribes to Indian government officials. These bribes were allegedly intended to secure lucrative solar energy supply contracts projected to generate US$2 billion in profits over two decades.

Prosecutors accuse Adani and co-defendants of concealing bribery scheme from US investors

Prosecutors further claim that Adani and his co-defendants conspired to misrepresent the Indian energy company’s anti-bribery and corruption practices while concealing the bribery scheme from US investors and international financial institutions. This deception allegedly facilitated financing for the company, including funding solar energy supply contracts obtained through bribery. According to the allegations, Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain caused the Indian energy company and its subsidiaries to raise capital based on false and misleading statements. This included:

• Two US dollar-denominated syndicated loans totaling over US$2 billion from lender groups comprising international financial institutions and US-based investors, and
• Two Rule 144A bond offerings exceeding US$1 billion, underwritten by international financial institutions and marketed to investors in the US and other regions.

Additionally, Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain are accused of causing the company to issue false statements in its consolidated financial reports, misleading the market and investors about the 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 Breon Peace, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Conspirators allegedly used codenames 'Numero Uno' and 'The Big Man' for Gautam Adani

Adani and his executives, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, face multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud. According to the indictment, some conspirators referred to Gautam Adani using code names such as "Numero Uno" and "The Big Man." Prosecutors claim Sagar Adani tracked specific bribes using his cellphone, while other co-conspirators documented corrupt payments in detail. The scheme allegedly included violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a US anti-bribery law. Among the additional defendants are Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of Azure Power Global, and Cyril Cabanes, a former director at the same firm. The group also includes employees of a Canadian institutional investor, prosecutors revealed. Seven of the defendants are Indian citizens who resided in India during the alleged conspiracy, while Cabanes, a dual French-Australian citizen, was based in Singapore. Arrest warrants have reportedly been issued for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, with US prosecutors planning to hand these warrants to foreign law enforcement authorities. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed related civil charges against the accused individuals.