LIVE | Adani offered ex-Andhra CM Jagan $200 billion bribe: US panel
Adani, 7 other execs charged with bribing Indian officials to secure lucrative contracts, defrauding US investors by making false statements
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged billionaire Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the Adani Group, with allegedly running a $250 million bribery scheme and defrauding American investors.
Accusing Adani and seven other executives of bribing Indian officials to land lucrative contracts, the federal prosecutors have alleged that on several occasions the business tycoon himself 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.
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 (November 20) 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.
Also read: Hindenburg claims $310 mn frozen in Swiss bank a/c, Adani Group rejects allegations
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Live Updates
- 21 Nov 2024 12:24 PM IST
Adani Green scraps $600 million bond sale
Adani Green Energy Ltd, the renewable energy arm of billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate, on Thursday (November 21) scrapped a USD 600 million bond issue after its promoter was charged in an alleged bribery case in the US.
Hours before the US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani and associates with participating in a scheme to pay over USD 250 million bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts, the firm sold a 20-year green bond in the US-investment-grade market.
The issue was over-subscribed three times. But following the allegations, the issue was scrapped.
"The United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission have issued a criminal indictment and brought a civil complaint, respectively, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, against our Board members, Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani.
"The United States Department of Justice has also included our Board member, Vneet Jaain, in such criminal indictment. In light of these developments, our subsidiaries have presently decided not to proceed with the proposed USD denominated bond offerings," Adani Green Energy said in a stock exchange filing.
- 21 Nov 2024 11:48 AM IST
BJP slams Congress, questions timing of development
The BJP has targeted the Congress over its attack on the central government after US prosecutors charged industrialist Gautam Adani with bribery and fraud, saying all the states mentioned in the indictment were at that time ruled by opposition parties.
BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya also questioned the timing of the development, as it came just before the start of Parliament session and Donald Trump's impending presidency.
This raises several questions, he said. "That the Congress is willing to be a prop in the hands of George Soros and his cabal speaks volumes," Malviya said on X in reply to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's claim that the indictment vindicates the Congress's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the various "Modani scams".
Citing from the US federal prosecutors's indictment, Malviya said the states where government officials were paid bribes allegedly by the Adani Group were Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh between July 2021 and February 2022.
He told Ramesh, "All the states mentioned here were Opposition-ruled during that time. So, before you pontificate, answer on the bribes the Congress and its allies accepted," he said.
While Odisha and Andhra Pradesh were then ruled by the BJD and the YSR Congress, two regional parties unaffiliated to either the ruling or the opposition alliance at that time, the Congress ally DMK was and remains in power in Tamil Nadu.The Congress was in power in Chhattisgarh.
- 21 Nov 2024 11:23 AM IST
#WATCH | Delhi: On US prosecutors charging Gautam Adani and others in alleged Solar Energy contract bribery case, AAP MP Sanjay Singh says, "...Adani Group has brought disrepute to India...This is a very serious matter. The PM of India should come forward and answer this...All… pic.twitter.com/rYQcuZ7uak
— ANI (@ANI) November 21, 2024 - 21 Nov 2024 10:27 AM IST
Congress calls for 'credible' SEBI chief to complete probe in 'Adani Mega Scam'
The Congress on Thursday said it "vindicates" its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation into the various "scams" involving his conglomerate. The opposition party also called for "a new and credible" SEBI head to be appointed to complete the securities law investigations into the "Adani Mega Scam".
Adani has been charged by US prosecutors over his role in an alleged years-long scheme to pay USD 250 million bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.
US prosecutors charged Adani, 62, his nephew Sagar and other defendants for paying over USD 250 million in bribes between 2020 and 2024 to Indian government officials to win solar energy contracts on terms that could potentially bring in more than USD 2 billion in profit.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the US Securities and Exchange Commission's actions also cast poor light on the manner in which its Indian counterpart, namely SEBI, has gone about investigating violations of securities and other laws by the Adani Group and its abject failure to hold the Group to account for the source of its investments, shell companies, etc.
"The indictment of Gautam Adani and others by the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) of the US vindicates the demand that the Indian National Congress has been making since Jan 2023 for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the various Modani scams," Ramesh said in a post on X.
"The INC had asked a hundred questions in its Hum Adani ke Hain (HAHK) series bringing out the various dimensions of these scams and of the intimate nexus that has existed between the PM and his favourite businessman. These questions have remained unanswered," he said.
- 21 Nov 2024 9:55 AM IST
Sensex tumbles 468 points, Nifty declines to 23,338; Adani Group stocks fall by 20%
The Sensex tumbled 468.17 points to 77,110.21 in early trade while Nifty declines 179.75 points to 23,338.75 on Thursday.
Amid allegations by the US SEC against Gautam Adani, Adani Group shares witnessed a sharp decline by 20 per cent.
- 21 Nov 2024 9:46 AM IST
Cong demands JPC probe
The five-count indictment of Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani and others unsealed by the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York has revealed more shocking details about Adani’s criminal activities. It alleges that they paid over $250 million (Rs 2,100 crore) in bribes to… https://t.co/PTcjMzLwBh
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 21, 2024 - 21 Nov 2024 9:45 AM IST
Gautam Adani personally involved in plot: DoT
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.
- 21 Nov 2024 9:44 AM IST
Adani, 7 others bribed officials, obstructed probe: FBI
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.
Also read: ‘Rigged deal’: Congress attacks Maharashtra govt over Adani’s power bid win
“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.
- 21 Nov 2024 9:43 AM IST
‘Violation of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act’
The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has also 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.
