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• Adani calls allegations ‘baseless’
• Indian opposition parties demand probe
• Indictment rattles group’s stocks; Kenya cancels airport deal
NEW DELHI: Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted for fraud by US prosecutors and arrest warrants issued for him and his nephew for their alleged roles in a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials to secure power-supply deals.
The crisis is the second in two years to hit the ports-to-power conglomerate founded by Adani, 62, one of the world’s richest people. The fallout was felt immediately, as billions of dollars were wiped off the market value of Adani Group companies and Kenya’s president canceled a massive airport project with the group.
Adani Group said in a statement that the allegations made by the US Department of Justice and by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a parallel civil case were “baseless and denied,” adding that it would seek “all possible legal recourse.”
US authorities said on Wednesday that eight people, including Adani and his nephew Sagar, agreed to pay about $265m in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and to develop India’s largest solar power plant project.
Kenyan President William Ruto said on Thursday he ordered the cancellation of a procurement process that was expected to hand control of the country’s main airport to Adani Group in a deal worth nearly $2bn. Following the news, Adani Green Energy, the company at the center of the case, canceled a scheduled $600m US bond sale.
Solar power plant
US authorities said the Adanis and Adani Green Energy’s former CEO Vneet Jaain had raised more than $3bn in loans and bonds by hiding their corruption from lenders and investors.
US law bars foreign companies who raise money from US investors from paying bribes overseas to win business. It is also against US law to raise money from investors on the basis of false statements.
According to prosecutors, Adani Green Energy raised money from US investors and submitted financial documents falsely stating that it had not paid any government officials to secure an improper advantage.
Sagar Adani is an executive director at Adani Green Energy and oversees its “strategic and financial matters.”
Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Jaain did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Arrest warrants have been issued in the US for Gautam and Sagar Adani and US prosecutors plan to hand those warrants to foreign law enforcement, US court records show.
Shares, bonds slump
Adani Group companies collectively lost about $27 billion in value in Thursday’s trade in India, reducing their combined market capitalisation to about $142bn.
Shares in Adani Green Energy plunged 19 per cent and stocks for many other firms in the conglomerate, including flagship Adani Enterprises, lost more than 10pc.
Adani dollar bonds slumped, with prices down between 3-5c on bonds for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone.
Indian opposition parties that have long complained that Adani and his conglomerate have been treated favorably by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government called for an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing. Modi and Adani, both from the western state of Gujarat, have denied impropriety.
Published in Dawn, November 22th, 2024
