U.S. authorities have charged Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and his key executives in a multi-billion-dollar scheme involving bribery of Indian officials to secure power supply contracts. The case has sparked stormy scenes in Parliament. A report by Mudit Mathur
Unlike the earlier shelved short-seller Hindenburg allegations, US prosecutors in New York have now indicted Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar R. Adani, and six others on charges of orchestrating a scheme involving over $250 million in bribes to state government officials to secure power supply contracts in India. The Adani Group now faces two cases: a civil case filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a criminal case by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
In the federal court in Brooklyn, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has charged Gautam S. Adani, the multi-billionaire chairman of the Adani conglomerate, and others from an Indian renewable energy company (the Indian Energy Company) with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud, as well as substantive securities fraud, for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to secure funds from U.S. investors and global financial institutions through false and misleading statements.
This revelation has sent shockwaves across India, coming at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently secured a hard-fought victory in the Maharashtra assembly elections. Opposition parties had already criticised Modi for his alleged closeness to Gautam Adani, and the US indictment has intensified their attacks. The timing of the charges, ahead of the winter session of Parliament, led to repeated adjournments in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, with opposition MPs demanding discussions on the matter.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed stormy scenes, uproar, and frequent disruptions since the beginning of the winter session as Opposition MPs defied the presiding officers’ appeals to allow the normal functioning of the Houses. Opposition MPs raised slogans demanding discussions on the criminal indictment of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and seven others for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to pay over $250 million in bribes to state government officials to secure power supply contracts in India. The opposition MPs rushed to the Well of the House, prompting frequent adjournments of parliamentary business.
A five-count criminal indictment was unsealed on 20 November by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Federal Court in Brooklyn, charging Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain, executives of an Indian renewable-energy company (the Indian Energy Company), with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud, as well as substantive securities fraud, for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from U.S. investors and global financial institutions through false and misleading statements.
The indictment also charges Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of a renewable-energy company whose securities traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the U.S. Issuer), and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of a Canadian institutional investor, with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with a bribery scheme allegedly perpetrated by Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain, involving one of the world’s largest solar energy projects.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Lisa H. Miller, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, announced the charges. In disclosing the serious charges against Gautam Adani, the multi-billionaire chairman of the Adani Group, they clarified in a press statement, “The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”
“As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials in order to secure contracts worth billions of dollars, and Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from U.S. and international investors,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. “My office is committed to rooting out corruption in the international marketplace and protecting investors from those who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets.”
“This 54-page indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, to deceive investors and banks in order to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice,” stated Deputy Assistant Attorney General Miller. “These offenses were allegedly committed by senior executives and directors to obtain and finance massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud, all at the expense of U.S. investors. The Criminal Division will continue to aggressively prosecute corrupt, deceptive, and obstructive conduct that violates U.S. law, no matter where in the world it occurs.”
“Gautam S. Adani and seven other business executives allegedly bribed the Indian government to finance lucrative contracts designed to benefit their businesses. Adani and other defendants also defrauded investors by raising capital based on false statements regarding bribery and corruption, while still others allegedly tried to conceal the bribery conspiracy by obstructing the government’s investigation,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy. “The FBI remains committed to exposing corrupt agreements, especially with international governments, and protecting investors from related harm.”
As alleged in the indictment, between approximately 2020 and 2024, the defendants agreed to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian government, which were projected to generate more than $2 billion in after-tax profits over an approximately 20-year period (the Bribery Scheme). On several occasions, Gautam S. Adani personally met with an Indian government official to advance the Bribery Scheme, and the defendants held in-person meetings to discuss aspects of its execution.
The charge sheet indicates that the bribes were paid to government officials between 2020 and 2022 in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, and Jammu and Kashmir to secure power purchasing agreements. This bribery scheme was carried out to secure contracts for an Adani company to sell solar power to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI), a Public Sector Undertaking owned by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.
The analysis of the bribery scheme reveals, “The offenders frequently discussed their efforts to further the ‘Bribery Scheme,’ including through an electronic messaging application. They also extensively documented their corrupt actions: for example, Sagar R. Adani used his cellular phone to track specific details of the bribes offered and promised to government officials; Vneet S. Jaain used his phone to photograph a document summarizing various bribe amounts the U.S. Issuer owed the Indian Energy Company for its portion of the bribes; and Rupesh Agarwal prepared and distributed multiple analyses to other offenders using PowerPoint and Excel, summarising various options for paying and concealing bribe payments.”
The indictment further alleges that Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra, and Rupesh Agarwal conspired to obstruct the grand jury, FBI, and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigations into the Bribery Scheme. Among other things, these four offenders agreed to delete electronic materials related to the Bribery Scheme, including emails, electronic messages, and Bribery Analyses; caused the U.S. Issuer’s Board of Directors to initiate an internal investigation into the Bribery Scheme, withholding material information from that investigation; and falsely denied their participation in the Bribery Scheme to representatives of the FBI, DOJ, and SEC at meetings in Brooklyn, New York. For this conduct, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra, and Rupesh Agarwal are charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Adani Green has published a statement denying the allegations: “The allegations made by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied.”
In response to the allegations, Adani Green issued a statement categorically denying the charges: “The allegations made by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” the statement read.
As the legal proceedings unfold, the case has cast a shadow over Adani Group’s operations and raised new questions about corporate governance and regulatory oversight in India.
