'The Corrupt Solar Project': Key US bribery charges against Adani and what’s next
Adani and his executives have also been accused of making false and misleading statements to investors and lenders in the United States regarding the company's anti-bribery commitments and practices while raising money from them
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for conspiring with executives of a formerly New York listed company to devise a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials to boost their solar energy business.
Adani and his executives have also been accused of making false and misleading statements to investors and lenders in the United States regarding the company's anti-bribery commitments and practices while raising money from them.
Adani Group denied the allegations as "baseless", while Indian government officials haven't commented so far.
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Here is an overview of the investigation and allegations revealed in the US indictment:
WHAT ARE THE MAIN ALLEGATIONS?
US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani who is director at Adani Green, and six others in running an alleged bribery scheme related to renewable energy projects in India that benefitted the tycoon's company and India's Azure Power, which was listed on the NYSE until late 2023.
In 2020, the indictment shows, executives of Adani Green and Azure "knowingly and wilfully conspired" and agreed to "corruptly" offer, authorise and pay bribes to government officials in India to "obtain or retain business advantages".
"Gautam S. Adani and seven other business executives allegedly bribed the Indian government to finance lucrative contracts," said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James E. Dennehy.
Adani Green on Nov. 27 said Gautam Adani has been charged on three counts in the criminal indictment for alleged securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and securities fraud, but not the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Between 2021 and 2024, Adani raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds, including from investors in the United States.
"Gautam and Sagar Adani were engaged in the bribery scheme during a September 2021 note offering by Adani Green that raised $750 million, including approximately $175 million from US investors," the US Securities and Exchange Commission said.
The Adanis earlier this year made misleading statements to the public, the Indian stock exchange and investors despite being made aware of the US investigation in 2023, the prosecutors alleged.
HOW WERE BRIBES TRACKED, PAID?
Sagar Adani, executive director of Adani Green and nephew of Gautam Adani, used his mobile phone to track details of the bribes offered to Indian officials, US authorities alleged.
In a meeting between some Adani and Azure executives in 2022, Gautam Adani detailed aspects of the bribery scheme including steps he personally took to offer money to government officials, the US authorities said.
Executives from Azure also prepared an analysis using Excel and PowerPoint to summarise the different ways in which it could repay Adani Green for the bribes it had paid to benefit both companies. For one of the projects of 2.3 gigawatts of power, the bribe was calculated at around $30,000 per megawatt.
One way discussed was to describe the payment internally at Azure as a "development fee", but it instead used another option of getting Azure to transfer one of its projects to Adani in lieu of part of the payment, US authorities alleged.
Azure in a statement said former officers of the company referenced in the US indictment were no longer associated with the company, and the company continued to cooperate with US authorities.
WHAT WERE THE POWER PROJECTS IN QUESTION?
US authorities called the dealings in their indictment "The Corrupt Solar Project".
Between 2019 and 2020, Adani Green and Azure were awarded renewable energy tenders by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a federal government-owned entity.
US authorities alleged Adani and others devised a scheme to bribe Indian state officials to enter into agreements with SECI, "which would benefit" Adani subsidiaries and Azure.
Adani facilities in Rajasthan and Gujarat states in India supplied the power contracted in the Adani deals. One of those marquee projects is the Adani energy park in Khavda, which the company says is the world's biggest renewable energy project.
HOW DID US FEDERAL AGENTS INVESTIGATE, SEIZE EVIDENCE?
In March 2023, FBI special agents approached Sagar Adani with details of the grand jury's ongoing investigation into the group and other entities. They took custody of electronic devices in Sagar's possession and served him with a search warrant and grand jury subpoena.
The search warrant identified offences, individuals and entities under investigation by the US for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, securities fraud, and wire fraud.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE ADANI GROUP?
Adani Group in a statement said it would seek "all possible legal recourse". The grand jury in its order said if any of the executives were found guilty of the charges they would have to forfeit any property or proceeds derived directly or indirectly as a result of the offences.
Federal prosecutors have also issued arrest warrants for Gautam and Sagar Adani. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has issued summons to Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar to answer the allegations.
Gautam and Sagar have not been arrested and their whereabouts are unknown, though they are believed to be in India.
