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November 21, (THEWILL) – The United States Department of Justice has charged an Indian billionaire founder and chairman of Adani Group, Gautam Adani, with paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes as part of a massive fraud scheme.
Adani, who commands a personal fortune of $69.8 billion (€65.3 billion) according to Forbes magazine, is one of the world’s richest people. Prosecutors alleged that Adani orchestrated a massive bribery scheme to pay off Indian government officials about $265 million to secure lucrative solar-energy supply contracts.
The contracts 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.
According to a 54-page indictment unsealed on Wednesday, in New York, Prosecutors alleged that Adani personally met with Indian officials to advance the illicit deal and secure contracts worth billions of dollars for a renewable-energy company owned by the conglomerate.
Prosecutors also alleged that Gautam Adani, 62 years old, and two Adani Green Energy executives, conspired to misrepresent the renewable-energy firm’s anti-bribery and corruption practices to U.S. investors and financial institutions to obtain financing.
According to the indictment, some conspirators would use the codenames “Numero uno” and “the big man” to refer to Adani in private. Nephew Sagar allegedly logged specific details of bribes on his phone.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Lisa Miller, said, “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.
“Adani and seven other business executives allegedly bribed the Indian government to finance lucrative contracts designed to benefit their businesses … while other defendants allegedly attempted to conceal the bribery conspiracy by obstructing the government’s investigation”, said the FBI’s James Dennehy.
Meanwhile, Adani Group said on Thursday, that it was fully compliant with all laws and that it was committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance.
The conglomerate denied the allegations made against the directors of the Adani Green Energy firm, describing them as “baseless.” It vowed to seek all possible legal recourse in the case.
None of the defendants in the case, including Adani, are currently in custody, but a judge has issued arrest warrants that prosecutors plan to pass on to foreign law enforcement.
