Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest men, has been charged with fraud by US authorities, accused of orchestrating a $250 million bribery scheme to secure contracts for his renewable energy company. The criminal charges, filed in New York on Wednesday, allege that Adani and senior executives at his conglomerate arranged payments to Indian officials to win contracts valued at over $2 billion, set to yield profits for the company over the next two decades.
The Adani Group has vehemently denied the allegations, calling them “baseless” and vowing to pursue “all possible legal recourse.” In response to the charges, shares of Adani Group firms plunged more than 10% on Thursday, wiping out over $20 billion in market capitalization. The group’s flagship renewable energy company, Adani Green Energy, also announced it would cancel a $600 million bond offering.
This latest development follows a tumultuous year for the Adani Group, which has faced heightened scrutiny since a 2023 report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of stock manipulation and accounting fraud. While Adani denied the accusations, the report triggered a market sell-off and led to an investigation by India’s market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Further controversy arose when Hindenburg accused SEBI’s chief of having links with offshore funds tied to the Adani group, a claim both the regulator and the group have denied.
The US investigation, which began in 2022, uncovered evidence of the company obstructing inquiries and allegedly making false and misleading statements to secure over $3 billion in loans and bonds from US firms. US Attorney Breon Peace condemned the alleged actions, saying, “The defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars and lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from U.S. and international investors.”
Michael Kugelman, Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, described the charges as a “body blow” to Adani, particularly as he has been attempting to rehabilitate his image following the earlier fraud allegations. Kugelman noted that this new legal challenge could make it harder for Adani to recover his reputation.
US investment firm GQG Partners LLC, which has invested nearly $10 billion in the Adani Group, stated it was “monitoring the charges” and may take “appropriate” actions regarding its portfolios. Moody’s Ratings also called the indictment a “credit negative” for Adani’s firms, citing concerns about the group’s access to capital and governance practices.
The allegations are also expected to create political fallout in India. Adani, a close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has long faced opposition accusations of benefiting from his political ties, which he denies. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has called for Adani’s arrest and for the removal of SEBI’s chief.
The charges come just weeks after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, during which he promised to overhaul the US Justice Department. Last week, Adani congratulated Trump on his election win and pledged a $10 billion investment in the US.
