Industrialist Gautam Adani is once again seen getting embroiled in controversies. Let us tell you that American prosecutors have accused him of paying bribes of $ 250 million to Indian officials in exchange for favorable terms to obtain solar power contracts in India. US prosecutors accused Gautam Adani, 62, his nephew Sagar Adani and others of paying more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to win solar power contracts. According to an estimate, this could potentially bring a profit of more than two billion dollars to the group. US prosecutors have alleged that all this was hidden from the American banks and investors from whom the Adani Group had raised billions of dollars for the project. Let us tell you that American law allows pursuing corruption charges in foreign countries related to its investors or markets.
Politics has heated up in India after the allegations against Adani Group. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has again targeted the Modi government on this issue. Congress party has also said that it is alleged that Adani paid a bribe of Rs 2,200 crore to get the contract in America. The Congress Party has written on the social media platform The party has said that Congress is continuously talking about investigating Adani and the scams related to it, but Narendra Modi is trying to save Adani with all his might. Congress has said that the reason is clear – if Adani is investigated, every link will be linked to Narendra Modi.
Also read: Gautam Adani got a big shock, shares fell due to news from America.
Whereas Aam Aadmi Party says that Modi ji, your friend has brought bad name to the country in the whole world. Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh has written on social media platform X that Gautam Adani has faced serious allegations in America. The case of bribery of 265 million dollars to Indian government officials has brought infamy to India.
At the same time, no response has been received from Adani Group on this matter yet. As far as the allegations in America are concerned, let us tell you that US Attorney Brian Peace of the Eastern District of New York said in the statement, “The defendants have perpetrated an elaborate conspiracy to bribe Indian government officials to obtain contracts worth billions of dollars.” Rachi.” Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, who is associated with various businesses, his nephew Sagar Adani, Executive Director of Adani Green Energy and Vineet Jain, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. He is charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. Gautam Adani has also been charged in a civil case filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The indictment also charges Sagar and Vineet Jain with breaking federal laws.
US authorities have also charged three former employees of Canadian pension fund CDPQ in connection with the alleged conspiracy. It said he obstructed the investigation into the bribery case by ‘deleting’ e-mails and agreeing to provide false information to the US government. Let us tell you that CDPQ, which invests in infrastructure projects, is a shareholder in Adani’s companies. According to the court document, “Specifically, on or about March 17, 2023, FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) officials contacted Sagar Adani in the United States and seized electronic devices in his possession pursuant to a search warrant.” According to the document, some people involved in the conspiracy used to personally call Gautam Adani by the code names ‘Numero Uno’ and ‘The Big Man’. His nephew allegedly used his cellphone to monitor specific information about bribes.
Others who have been charged with criminal charges include Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Aggarwal. They are the former CEO and former Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer of Azure Power Global, respectively. Regarding these, the officials said that they had agreed to pay some bribe. The complaint accuses them of violating anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws and seeks sanctions including a permanent bar, fines and other sanctions. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in a statement that as part of the alleged conspiracy, Adani Green raised more than $175 million from US investors and listed Azure Power’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Additionally, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has filed criminal charges against Adani, Sagar Adani, Cyril Cabanes and others associated with Adani Green and Azure Power. The case has been filed in a federal court in Brooklyn. It also charges five other people with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a bribery case involving one of the world’s largest solar power projects.
If seen, these allegations against Adani Group may land it in problems again. Earlier, American research and investment company Hindenburg Research had leveled fraud allegations against the group, from which it had just recovered. In January 2023, Hindenburg had made allegations of stock manipulation and accounting irregularities. At that time, Adani Group had rejected all the allegations of Hindenburg and called them baseless. These allegations resulted in a loss of $150 billion in the group’s market valuation. However, the group recovered from it and the losses incurred in the shares of the companies were recovered to a great extent.
