Prosecutors accused Adani tried on several occasions to meet the Indian government authorities to advance the bribery.
Gautam Adani, the 18th wealthiest person in the world with a personal fortune of $85 billion, is accused by US authorities of participating in a $265 million bribery scheme.
He is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate involved in port development and operations in India.
Authorities stated that he and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar, bribed Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to secure contracts to build the country’s largest solar power plant project to generate a project of $2 billion for the next 20 years.
Breon Peace, US attorney for the eastern district of New York, stated that the defendants had made an elaborate scheme to bribe the Indian authorities to secure the contracts and then lied about the scheme while raising funds.
According to Lisa Miller, deputy assistant attorney general, the senior executives and directors committed these offenses to obtain and finance large state energy supply contracts through fraud and corruption at the expense of US investors.
Prosecutors accused the company tried on several occasions to meet the Indian government authorities to advance the bribery.
A judge has issued arrest warrants for Gautam and Sagar, and prosecutors intend to turn over the warrants to foreign law enforcement.
Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the leading market watchdog in the USA, has charged Gautam, 62, and two other executives for the actions due to the large-scale bribery scheme.
The people of Adani Green Energy cancelled their plans to issue $600 million in bonds denominated in US dollars, but the priced bond was withdrawn after the news. But they did not respond for a comment on the stalled deal.
The dollar bonds fell in the early Asian trading on Thursday, with the prices for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone bonds falling between 3 and 5 cents. The fall was the largest since the group was the target after accusations of stock manipulation, accounting fraud, and money laundering by the short seller investment firm Hindenburg Research last year.
They rejected the Hindenburg charges, claiming they were a combination of false facts and old, unfounded, and discredited accusations.
Additionally, prosecutors claimed that the company and another executive at Adani Green Energy, former CEO Vneet Jaain, raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds to hide their corruption from lenders and investors.
The indictment claimed that Sagar used his mobile to track details regarding the bribe, while other conspirators used code names like Numero Uno and the Big Man to refer to Gautam Adani in private.
The Adani Group has not responded to comment on the indictment either.
Shares of GQC Partners, a significant backer of the company and an investment business listed in Australia fell 20%. It was the biggest one-day drop for the stock since going public three years ago.
GQG last year acquired 3.4% of Adani Enterprises, the group’s significant company, 4.1% of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (SEZ), 2.5% of Adani Transmission, and 3.5% of Adani Green Energy. In a statement, it stated that it was observing the charges.
Dollar bond prices for the company dropped sharply in Asia trade after the billionaire chairman of the Indian conglomerate was accused in New York over allegations of bribery and fraud.
According to the LSEG statistics, prices for Adani Port and Special Economic Zone debt maturing in August 2027 dropped by over five cents of the dollar.
Dollar bonds issued by Adani Transmission also saw a decline of more than five cents to trade at just around 80 cents, while the debt issued by Adani Electricity Mumbai that matured in February 2030 plunged by about eight cents.