Arrest warrant issued againt Gautam Adani

The billionaire chairman of the Adani Group, Gautam Adani, has been indicted in New York on charges of orchestrating a vast bribery and fraud scheme, which has led to the issuance of arrest warrants.

Although no arrests have been made, arrest warrants have been issued, and US prosecutors are working with international law enforcement agencies to execute them, following charges of paying bribes worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Indian officials, reports Deutsche Welle (DW).

The charges are part of a broader investigation into alleged financial misconduct tied to lucrative solar energy contracts.

According to a report by DW, Adani, whose personal wealth is valued at $69.8 billion (€65.3 billion) by Forbes, is accused of agreeing to bribe Indian officials up to $265 million in exchange for profitable solar energy contracts.

The indictment accuses him and seven co-defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, of manipulating government officials to secure these deals, potentially yielding over €2 billion in profits over the next 20 years.

"This indictment alleges schemes to pay … bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice," said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa Miller.

The contracts in question were expected to yield profits of over €2 billion over the next 20 years for Adani and seven fellow defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, says DW.

"Adani and seven other business executives allegedly bribed the Indian government to finance lucrative contracts designed to benefit their businesses ... while still other defendants allegedly attempted to conceal the bribery conspiracy by obstructing the government's investigation," said the FBI's James Dennehy.

Despite the severity of the charges, neither Adani Group nor the defendants' legal teams have responded publicly to the indictment, and the Indian Embassy in Washington has yet to comment.