Adani Group Denies US Bribery Charges As Baseless, Vows Legal Action

The Adani Group on Thursday strongly refuted bribery allegations made by the United States (US) Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of the Adani Green as baseless. The Adani Group spokesperson in an official statement said all legal recourse will be taken.

"The US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied," the statement read. The group further highlighted a key aspect of the legal proceedings, noting, “As stated by the US Department of Justice itself, 'the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.' All possible legal recourse will be sought.”

The Adani Group also reaffirmed its dedication to high standards of governance, compliance, and transparency across its operations. "The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations. We assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organisation, fully compliant with all laws," the statement added.

Amid these allegations, Adani Green Energy also informed stock exchanges that its subsidiaries have decided to defer their planned US dollar-denominated bond offerings. It said, "In light of these developments, our subsidiaries have presently decided not to proceed with the proposed USD denominated bond offerings".

US prosecutors had charged Gautam Adani and others in an alleged Solar Energy contract bribery case. A five-count criminal indictment has been unsealed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charging prominent Indian executives including the Chairman of the Adani Group Gautam Adani by linking them to an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York, “A five-count criminal indictment was unsealed in federal court charging Gautam Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain, with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from U.S. investors and global financial institutions on the basis of false and misleading statements.”

The indictment also charges Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of a renewable-energy company with securities that had traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the U.S. Issuer), and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of a Canadian institutional investor, with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with the alleged bribery scheme. (ANI)