A US federal court has issued an arrest warrant for one of India’s richest men.
Billionaire Gautam Adani has been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with allegedly defrauding investors and bribing officials.
The 62-year-old Adani Group boss, worth $116bn (£91.77bn) faces the allegations along with his nephew Sagar Adani and six others in relation to one of the world’s largest solar projects.
Adani Group has been accused of fraudulent practices in the past.
File pic: AP/Manish Swarup
An investigation conducted by the FBI claimed Mr Adani and others agreed to bribe Indian government officials to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts.
Deputy assistant attorney general Lisa Miller said: “This indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250m [£197.75m] in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice.”
FBI assistant director James Dennehy said: “Adani and other defendants also defrauded investors by raising capital on the basis of false statements about bribery and corruption, while still other defendants allegedly attempted to conceal the bribery conspiracy by obstructing the government’s investigation.”
The company has been accused of being too close to prime minister Narendra Modi in the past.
File pic: AP/Manish Swarup
The 54-page indictment said that between 2020 and 2024, the defendants agreed to pay bribes for contracts that would generate more than $2bn (£1.58bn) in profits.
The FBI said on several occasions, Mr Adani personally met with an Indian government official to advance the bribery scheme, and the defendants held in-person meetings with each other to discuss aspects of its execution.
According to the indictment, some conspirators would use the codenames “numero uno” and “the big man” to refer to Mr Adani in private.
Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani pictured in January 2024.
File pic: AP/Ajit Solanki
“Sagar Adani had notes on his cellphone that tracked the region where a bribe was paid, the amount paid and the expected contract size for solar power business that his company would be expected to provide in return,” it said.
It added text messages allegedly revealed other Adani Group associates attempted to destroy evidence and mislead federal investigators.
In a press conference leader of opposition, Rahul Gandhi demanded: “Mr Adani be arrested immediately for breaking the law in the US and India and a start of an investigation. Prime Minister Modi is protecting the businessman because he is involved in his corruption.”
BJP leader Sambit Patra said the allegations were against the company, who will reply to them. He added: “The people of this country are behind PM Modi and his credibility is intact and growing.”
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In February 2023, US short-seller Hindenburg Research published a report alleging the Adani Group was manipulating their stock prices, committing accounting fraud and was involved in money laundering.
The group dismissed these allegations as “malicious and baseless”.
But the allegations wiped off over $100bn (£79bn) from the company’s valuation.
India’s Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi speaks to the media on Gautam Adani.
Pic: AP/Manish Swarup
In response to the most recent allegations, the group said: “The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied.
“As stated by the US Department of Justice itself, ‘the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.’ All possible legal recourse will be sought.
“The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations.
“We assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organisation, fully compliant with all laws.”
A number of Adani projects in Kenya, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Australia have become major issues of contention regarding transparency and environmental damage and have faced major protests outside India.