A New York judge has issued arrest warrants for Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and several others implicated in a multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme. These warrants are set to be handed over to international law enforcement agencies, Reuters reported.
On Wednesday, November 20, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York unveiled charges against Gautam Adani, 62, Sagar Adani, 30, and six others. They are accused of orchestrating a $265 million (approximately Rs 2,236 crore) bribery operation to secure solar energy supply contracts from the Indian government. These contracts were projected to yield profits of nearly $2 billion (Rs 16,880 crore) over 20 years.
The indictment claims that from July 2021 to February 2022, bribes were promised to Indian government officials in exchange for securing agreements with state electricity distribution companies in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jammu and Kashmir. These companies then entered into power supply agreements with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a public sector entity that serves as an intermediary for power procurement. Andhra Pradesh agreed to purchase seven gigawatts of solar power under these agreements.
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The charges allege that of the total bribe amount of Rs 2,029 crore, Rs 1,750 crore was intended for a high-ranking official in Andhra Pradesh who held power from May 2019 to June 2024. The indictment also states that Gautam Adani personally met with this official, referred to as "Foreign Official #1" in the complaint, to offer the bribe in exchange for securing the solar power purchase deal.
Prosecutors assert that Gautam Adani, chair of the Adani Group, and other executives, including Vneet S. Jaain, a former Adani Green Energy executive, raised over $3 billion (Rs 25,322 crore) through loans and bonds while hiding their corrupt activities from investors and lenders.
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Authorities revealed that evidence of the bribery scheme, spanning from 2020 to 2024, was well-documented. This included a phone used to track bribe details, a photograph of a document summarising the bribe amounts, and PowerPoint and Excel files analysing different methods for concealing payments.
The indictment also states that some conspirators referred to Gautam Adani by the code names "Numero uno" and "the big man," while Sagar Adani allegedly used his cellphone to track specifics of the bribes, according to Reuters.
The US Department of Justice further detailed that the accused regularly met to discuss the bribery scheme, and evidence was found on several cellphones.
Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain now face charges of securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and wire fraud conspiracy.