Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, along with seven of his senior executives, has been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for a multi-billion-dollar fraud and bribery scheme, the charges announced on November 20 accused the defendants of paying over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to win the lucrative solar energy contracts.
That was orchestrated by Adani, Asia’s second-richest individual with a net worth exceeding $85 billion. His nephew, Sagar Adani, and other executives allegedly used bribes to secure contracts projected to generate over $2 billion in post-tax profits across 20 years.
The DOJ said that Adani personally met Indian officials to carry out the bribery scheme from 2020 through 2024. According to investigators, documents, PowerPoint presentations, and phone records accounted for the payments and attempts to hide them all.
Lisa Miller, Deputy Assistant Attorney General said, “These activities consisted of fraud against investors and banks who loaned millions of dollars and obstruction of justice.” The Securities and Exchange Commission of the U.S. has also filed cases with it saying that Adani Green Energy raised more than $175 million from U.S. investors by making false claims about its being compliant with anti-bribery measures.
This indictment follows earlier allegations by Hindenburg Research in 2023, which accused Adani of “stock manipulation and accounting fraud.” The report led to a massive $80 billion drop in his fortune.
Adani, an influential supporter of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is the chairman of Adani Group – an integrated port-to-renewable power conglomerate. Stocks in the companies of Adani Group and its shareholder GQG Partners crashed after the indictment.
DOJ claims that not just misappropriated funds and cheated investors, but the Adani Group had indulged in substantial international fraud.
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