Adani Group founder and chairman Gautam Adani, one of the world's richest people, has been indicted in New York with multiple counts of fraud which include lying to investors and running a years-long scheme to bribe Indian officials.
According to the federal prosecutors, Adani and his executives paid more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain solar energy contracts for Adani Green Energy. The project was expected to earn $2 billion in profit over 20 years for the group, the indictment added.
"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.
Adani's co-defendants include his nephew Sagar Adani, the executive director of Adani Green Energy's board, and Vneet Jaain, who was the company's chief executive from 2020 to 2023 and remains managing director of its board.
Adani, one of the world's richest people, reportedly paid the amount between 2020 and 2024 to people in the Indian government as part of the scheme. They also concealed it from the US banks and investors, thereby duping them into pouring several billion dollars into the project over the last five years.
Prosecutors also said the Adanis and Jaain raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds this way.
Also read: Adani Group's dollar bond prices drop after indictment in bribery fraud
The bribery scheme was so elaborate that Adani himself met an Indian official to "advance" the scheme. The defendants also kept a record of their "corrupt efforts" on mobile phones, on PowerPoint presentations and in Excel spreadsheets. These documents included various options for paying and concealed bribe payments, the indictment in Brooklyn read.
The indictment also claims that some conspirators used codenames "Numero uno" and "the big man" to refer to Adani in private while Jaain was called "V," "snake" and "Numero uno minus one." Sagar too allegedly logged specific details of bribes on his phone.
How the bribery scheme panned out
According to the federal prosecutors, it was between December 2019 and July 2020 that the Adanis decided to embark on the bribery scheme when Adani Green Energy and another renewable-energy company listed on the New York Stock Exchange won contracts with the Solar Energy Corporation of India.
The project would involve an investment of $6 billion and over 20 years, it was expected to generate more than $2 billion in profit. However, the energy was too expensive for the states that the Solar Energy Corporation couldn't find enough customers.
Adani and his associates then began bribing officials in multiple states to use their solar energy. They offered $265 million and $228 million went to an unnamed official, who helped ink a deal for electricity providers in Andhra Pradesh to buy seven gigawatts of solar energy.Over the next two years, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir too signed up. More people were also included in the bribery scheme.
The details of the bribery scheme was tracked by Sagar Adani in his cell phone. These included the state, the amount and the amount of solar energy they would purchase.
Between 2020 and 2024, Adani and his associates began raising funds from Wall Street investors by taking out $1.35 billion loan. They also issued $750 million in bonds in 2021. The Adanis did not reveal anything about the bribery scheme to the US investors.
