The US
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani and other executives of the Adani group of a massive bribery scheme. An SEC press release says that the two “were engaged in the bribery scheme during a September 2021 note offering by Adani Green that raised $750 million, including approximately $175 million from U.S. investors. The Adani Green offering materials included statements about its anti-corruption and anti-bribery efforts that were materially false or misleading in light of Gautam and Sagar Adani’s conduct.”
It has alleged that the “bribery scheme was orchestrated to enable the two renewable energy companies to capitalize on a multi-billion-dollar solar energy project that the companies had been awarded by the Indian government.” While SEC press release does not mention the bribe amount, media reports put it at US$250mn (million).
Charging them with violation of antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, the SEC complaint has sought permanent injunctions, civil penalties and officer and director bars against the three executives. The complaints were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Apart from Gautam and Sagar Adani with respect to Adani Green Energy Ltd, SEC has indicted Cyril Cabanes, an executive of Azure Power Global Ltd., for ‘conduct arising out of a massive bribery scheme’.
According to SEC’s complaint, Gautam and Sagar Adani orchestrated a bribery scheme offering to pay the equivalent of ‘hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes’ to Indian government officials to secure their commitment to purchase energy at above-market rates that would benefit Adani Green and Azure Power.
Cyril Cabanes, a former member of Azure Power’s board of directors has been charged with violations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for his role in the alleged bribery scheme. Mr Cabanes allegedly facilitated the bribes.
Sanjay Wadhwa, acting director of the SEC’s division of enforcement says, “We will continue to vigorously pursue and hold individuals, including senior corporate officers and directors, accountable when they violate our securities laws.”
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York today unsealed criminal charges against Gautam and Sagar Adani and Mr Cabanes, among other individuals connected to Adani Green and Azure Power.
In a separate release the US attorney’s office at New York said that Gautam Adani and seven others had been indicted in the scheme to pay bribes of over US$250mn for contracts.
The release says, “A five-count criminal indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani and Vneet S Jaain, executives of an Indian renewable-energy company (the Indian Energy Company), 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 US. 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 US 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 a bribery scheme also perpetrated by Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani and Vneet S Jaain, involving one of the world’s largest solar energy projects.”
“This indictment alleges schemes to pay over US$250mn in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice,” stated Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa S Miller. “These offenses were allegedly committed by senior executives and directors to obtain and finance massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of U.S. investors. The Criminal Division will continue to aggressively prosecute corrupt, deceptive, and obstructive conduct that violates US law, no matter where in the world it occurs.”
A five-count criminal indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, executives of an Indian renewable-energy company, 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.
