Gautam Adani indicted in the US for alleged bribery scheme

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been charged by federal prosecutors in recent York in connection with an alleged years-long scheme to bribe Indian officials in swap for favourable terms on solar power contracts projected to bring in more than $2bn in profits.

The 62-year-ancient tycoon, who chairs the multinational conglomerate Adani throng and has been a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was indicted in Brooklyn on charges including stocks and bonds fraud alongside seven others, including executives of Adani vigor subsidiaries and former employees of a Canadian superannuation fund. His nephew Sagar Adani, who is the executive director at a renewables business founded by Gautam Adani, is also among the defendants.

US prosecutors said more than $250mn in bribes was paid between 2020 and 2024 to people in the Indian government as part of the scheme, which was allegedly concealed from the US banks and investors from which they raised billions of dollars in fund. They claimed that Gautam Adani met with an Indian official to “advance” the scheme.

The US attorney’s office in Brooklyn also charged three former employees of large Canadian superannuation fund CDPQ in connection with the alleged scheme, saying they obstructed an investigation into the bribes by deleting emails and agreed to provide untrue information to the US government. CDPQ, which invests in infrastructure projects, is a shareholder in Adani companies.

The indictments threaten to reignite a community relations crisis for Adani throng, which has spent much of last year trying to shift history the damaging claims of bookkeeping fraud and distribute trade manipulation made by US short seller Hindenburg Research.

“This indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials” US deputy assistant attorney-general Lisa Miller said. “These offences were allegedly committed by elder executives and directors to obtain and finance massive state vigor supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the outlay of US investors.”

Prosecutors further alleged that the defendants “extensively documented their corrupt efforts” on mobile phones, on PowerPoint presentations and in Excel spreadsheets “that summarised various options for paying and concealing bribe payments”.

In a parallel civil lawsuit, the stocks and bonds and swap fee said the alleged bribes were paid in order to “secure [the Indian government’s] commitment to purchase vigor at above-trade rates that would advantage Adani Green and Azure Power”, two Indian renewable vigor companies.

Adani Green, which operates one of the largest solar plants in the globe, raised more than $175mn from US investors as part of a $750mn corporate predictable returns while the scheme was ongoing, US regulators said.

Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani allegedly “induced US investors to buy Adani Green bonds through an offering procedure that misrepresented not only that Adani Green had a robust anti-bribery regulatory adherence programme but also that the business’s elder management had not and would not pay or commitment to pay bribes”, said Sanjay Wadhwa, acting director at the SEC’s enforcement division. 

According to the regulator’s complaint, Sagar Adani allegedly told Azure executives and others about “incentives”, or bribes, he had been proposing to “motivate” state officials to consent contracts with the Indian government’s arm responsible for implementing renewable vigor programmes.

Adani and CDPQ did not immediately respond to requests for comment.