US prosecutors have charged Gautam Adani, an Indian billionaire business magnate and the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, and two other executives with orchestrating a $250 million bribery scheme to secure solar energy contracts in India, threatening to disrupt the Indian tycoon’s conglomerate after recovering from previous fraud allegations.
The charges, filed Wednesday, allege that Adani, his nephew Sagar R Adani, and executive Vneet S Jaain bribed Indian officials while seeking funds from US investors. Prosecutors accused them of violating federal laws and attempting to obstruct justice by deleting evidence, as reported by Bloomberg.
The SEC has also filed a parallel civil lawsuit, naming Adani Green Energy Ltd as a key player in the bribery scheme to build India’s largest solar power project.
The Adani Group, under scrutiny by Indian regulators for earlier allegations, has denied wrongdoing. The scandal led to the cancellation of a $600 million bond offering and a plunge in the group’s US-currency bonds.
India’s opposition has called for a parliamentary probe, while the ongoing investigations may take years to resolve.
