US Accuses Gautam Adani of Bribery Scheme Involving Massive Solar Project

New Delhi : Gautam Adani, a prominent Indian billionaire and one of the world’s richest individuals, has been accused of orchestrating a complex bribery scheme to defraud investors in connection with a solar power project in India. The 62-year-old business magnate was charged on Wednesday with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud by US authorities. The allegations center on Adani’s efforts to secure billions of dollars in contracts and financing for a project involving Adani Green Energy Ltd, which aimed to deliver 12 gigawatts of solar power to the Indian government—enough to power millions of homes and businesses.

The indictment alleges that Adani and his associates manipulated both ends of the deal. To Wall Street investors, they presented the project as a transparent and promising venture, successfully attracting billions of dollars in investments over the past five years. Simultaneously, in India, they allegedly engaged in corrupt practices, offering bribes amounting to approximately $265 million to government officials to secure lucrative contracts. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa Miller remarked that Adani and his co-defendants sought to gain large-scale state energy supply contracts through fraud and corruption, ultimately exploiting American investors.

US Attorney Brian Pease accused the defendants of devising an intricate scheme to enrich themselves at the expense of the financial market’s integrity. Additionally, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a parallel civil case, charging Adani and two co-defendants with violating anti-fraud provisions of US securities laws. The SEC is seeking monetary penalties and other sanctions in cases filed in a Brooklyn federal court.

The co-defendants named in the case include Sagar Adani, Gautam Adani’s nephew and an executive director of Adani Green Energy, and Vineet Jain, the company’s former CEO (2020–2023), who currently serves as a managing director. Efforts to reach Adani for comment were unsuccessful, and there was no indication of legal representation listed in the court records. While Sean Hecker, a lawyer representing Sagar Adani, declined to comment, other lawyers did not immediately respond to inquiries.

According to Sanjay Wadhwa, Acting Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, Adani and his associates misled investors into purchasing bonds by falsely claiming that Adani Green Energy maintained a robust anti-bribery compliance program. They further asserted that senior management neither gave nor promised bribes, which prosecutors now contend was far from the truth.

Adani, a dominant figure in India’s corporate landscape, first gained prominence in the coal industry during the 1990s. His conglomerate, the Adani Group, spans a wide array of industries, including defense manufacturing, infrastructure development, and consumer goods. In recent years, the group has heavily invested in renewable energy, emphasizing sustainability through its motto: “Development with Good.” Adani Green Energy boasts a renewable energy portfolio exceeding 20 gigawatts, including one of the world’s largest solar power plants in Tamil Nadu. The company has pledged to become India’s largest clean energy producer by 2030, with plans to invest $70 billion in green energy projects by 2032.

However, Adani’s empire has faced scrutiny before. In 2022, US-based financial research firm Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud. The Adani Group dismissed the allegations as a baseless mix of misinformation and defamatory claims. Hindenburg, a short-seller that profits from declining stock prices, had financial motives tied to its claims, which triggered significant declines in Adani Group shares. The stock prices dipped further in August 2023 when Hindenburg reiterated corruption allegations. Despite these setbacks, Adani executives maintained that ongoing projects, including a massive 20-gigawatt solar and wind power venture in the Indian village of Khawda, remained unaffected.

Prosecutors allege that the bribery scheme was devised in 2020 or 2021 as a means to win contracts with the Solar Energy Corporation of India, a national government entity. These contracts were critical for Adani Green and its affiliates to guarantee energy demand at premium rates, ensuring the project’s profitability. However, India’s state electricity distributors, tasked with purchasing this power and supplying it to end consumers, expressed frustration over the high costs. To overcome these hurdles, prosecutors claim Adani and his associates offered bribes to government officials to secure favorable terms and sustain their ambitious energy project.

The accusations against Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and former CEO Vineet Jain have cast a shadow over Adani Green Energy’s international reputation. The legal proceedings, unfolding in the US, aim to address the alleged misuse of financial markets and public trust. With both criminal and civil cases underway, the fallout could have far-reaching implications for the Adani Group’s global operations and its ambitious clean energy agenda.

The National Digital Livestock Mission representatives joined the meeting alongside government officials, addressing critical issues about compliance and anti-corruption measures, adding layers of credibility to the governance models expected in significant energy projects like those pursued by Adani Green Energy.

As the US pursues monetary penalties and regulatory sanctions, the unfolding saga underscores the vulnerabilities in global financial markets, where allegations of corruption and fraud can tarnish even the most ambitious ventures in sustainable development. Whether the Adani Group can recover its reputation and sustain its renewable energy initiatives remains to be seen, as the allegations challenge the core principles of its “Development with Good” philosophy.