US SEC charges Adani in alleged $250 million bribery scheme

WASHINGTON: The US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged billionaire Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the Adani Group, with allegedly defrauding American investors and bribing officials.

Adani, 62, his nephew Sagar Adani, 30, executives of Adani Green Energy Ltd, and Cyril Cabanes, an executive of Azure Power Global Ltd were charged on Wednesday with conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, as well as substantive securities fraud, for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from US investors and global financial institutions through false and misleading statements.

The SEC alleged 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.

The complaint charges them with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and seeks permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and officer and director bars.

During the alleged scheme, Adani Green raised more than USD 175 million from US investors and Azure Power's stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the SEC said in a statement.

Simultaneously, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York unsealed criminal charges against Adani and Sagar Adani, Cabanes, and others linked to Adani Green and Azure Power.

The federal indictment unsealed in a federal court in Brooklyn charges five others with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with the bribery scheme, involving one of the world's largest solar energy projects.

Federal prosecutors claim that between 2020 and 2024, Adani and his associates paid over USD 250 million in bribes to obtain solar energy contracts worth more than USD 2 billion in projected profits after tax over an approximately 20-year period.

Adani and seven other executives are accused of bribing Indian government officials to secure lucrative contracts and defrauding investors by making false statements about bribery and corruption.

They also allegedly tried to obstruct investigations, according to FBI Assistant Director James Dennehy.

“This indictment alleges schemes to pay over USD 250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice,” stated Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa H Miller.

“These offences 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 US investors, " she added.

The Department of Justice alleged that on several occasions, Adani personally met with 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.

“The defendants frequently discussed their efforts in furtherance of the Bribery Scheme, including through an electronic messaging application, " it alleged.