US charges Indian billionaire Adani with bribery

Gautam Adani, the billionaire chairman of the Indian conglomerate Adani Group and one of the world’s richest people, has been indicted in New York over his role in a $265-million bribery scheme, according to US prosecutors.
US authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion in profit over 20 years, and develop India’s largest solar power plant.
The prosecutors said the Adanis, along with former Adani Green Energy CEO Vneet Jaain, raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds by hiding their corruption from lenders and investors. Because some of those lenders and investors were in the US, such behaviour is a violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
In a statement, the Adani Group dismissed the accusations as “baseless”, and vowed to seek “all possible legal recourse”.
A judge has issued arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani and prosecutors plan to hand those warrants to foreign law enforcement, court records show.
Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Jaain were charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. The Adanis were also charged in a US Securities and Exchange Commission civil case.
The charges come less than two years after the US short-seller Hindenburg Research in February 2023 accused the group of improper use of tax havens and involvement in stock manipulation, which the conglomerate also denied.
The fallout on Thursday for the Adani empire was immediate, with shares of listed companies in the conglomerate tumbling between 10% and 20%.
Adani Group companies lost about $27 billion in market value and shares of the flagship Adani Enterprises closed down 23% in their worst one-day drop since the bombshell Hindenburg report was released in February last year.
Adani Green Energy also cancelled plans on Thursday to raise $600 million in US dollar-denominated bonds. The bond had been priced but was pulled following the news.
According to an indictment, some conspirators referred privately to Gautam Adani with the code names “Numero uno” and “the big man”, while Sagar Adani allegedly used his mobile phone to track specifics about the bribes.
Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Jaain were charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, and the Adanis were also charged in a US Securities and Exchange Commission civil case.
Five other defendants were charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and four were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice.
None of the defendants is in custody, a spokesperson for US Attorney Breon Peace in Brooklyn said. Gautam Adani is believed to be in India.
Shares in GQG Partners, an Australia-listed investment firm that is a major Adani backer, slid 20%. The decline was the stock’s largest one-day fall since it listed three years ago.
GQG last year bought 3.4% of Adani Enterprises, 4.1% of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, 2.5% of Adani Transmission and 3.5% of Adani Green Energy. It said in a statement that it was monitoring the charges.
Gautam Adani, 62, is worth $69.8 billion according to Forbes magazine. He is one of the few billionaires formally accused in the United States of criminal wrongdoing.