Billionaire Gautam Adani charged in US with USD 250 million briberyTop Stories

November 21, 2024 15:21
Billionaire Gautam Adani charged in US with USD 250 million bribery

(Image source from: telugu.newsmeter.in)

Adani Group said it accused him and his nephew Sagar Adani of offering Indian government officials 2.029 crores ($265 million) to secure lucrative solar power contracts, sparking a new controversy after allegations against six other companies Adani and its portfolio have been under scrutiny since US-based Hindenburg Research released a damning report in January 2023. Nearly a month after the Hindenburg Report slashed the market value of Gautam Adani's empire by more than $135 billion, the billionaire has deployed America's leading crisis management and legal team to take power plants with a market capitalization of more than $850 million for sale. That pays off part of his debts and promises to pay more. In late December, the company raised more than $5 billion (Rs 41,500 crore) in equity and twice that amount in debt as the Apple group returned to the airport after being hit by reports of a brief bomb sale.

Adani reported a 16% rise in net profit at Rs 1,742 crore on revenue of Rs 22,680 crore in the second quarter of FY25, almost eight times higher than the previous year. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Predicament. Following today's indictment, shares of Adani Group companies fell 20% on Thursday, November 30, reaching their lowest price of the day. In response, GQG Partners, a leading investment firm, confirmed that it is monitoring the situation. GQG said it would closely monitor the latest developments and consider whether any action was warranted in relation to its portfolio assets. “Our team is reviewing the new details and determining the appropriate actions for the portfolio,” GQG said.

US prosecutors in New York charged Adani Group Chairman Gautam S. on Wednesday. Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and six others were accused of entering into "lucrative solar power supply contracts" with the state-owned company by paying 2.029 billion rupees ($265 million) in bribes to a third party. On Thursday, India time, the US Attorney's Office in New York issued a press release saying that five criminal charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Venit Jain were dismissed in a federal court in Brooklyn, charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud . and charged with securities fraud. Fraud announced that it was done. Securities fraud for his role in a multibillion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from American investors and global financial institutions based on false and misleading statements.

In parallel, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Cyril Cabanes with conduct related to a large-scale bribery scheme. The SEC filed two complaints in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. As alleged in the indictment, between 2020 and 2024, the defendants worked with two Indian government officials to secure lucrative solar power supply contracts with the Indian government, the U.S. attorney said in a statement, reporting an after-tax profit of $100,000 generated more than $2 billion in about 20 years (bribery scheme). On August 10, 2024, Hindenburg Research announced that the head of India's stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which is overseeing the investigation, had released a report purporting to "exploit the Adani fund “Offshore company scandal involving unknown parties”. The report comes nearly 18 months after Mr Hindenburg raised concerns about fraud and share price manipulation at the Adani group of companies in his first report, and SEBI said SEBI Director General Madhavi Puri Buch had allegedly failed to respond to the allegations. In his report, he targeted the Adani Group. The company had invested in offshore companies affiliated with large companies.

Traders pointed to revealing documents from 2015 that linked the Sebi chairman and his wife Daval Boeuf to offshore funds in Bermuda and Mauritius, companies allegedly used by Adani to manipulate financial markets. The next day, SEBI issued a statement saying it had "officially investigated" Hindenburg's allegations against Adani Group. He also said the chairman had made the necessary disclosures "regarding the ownership and transfer of securities" and was not involved in matters that had "potential conflicts of interest." Additionally, the SEBI chief and his wife issued a joint statement denying all the allegations. They said it was an attempted “character assassination.” Following these allegations, the share price of Adani group companies, including Adani Companies, Adani Ports and Adani Green Energy, fell 7% on August 21. Nifty 50 companies Adani Corporation and Adani Ports lost as much as 5 percent before recovering slightly from the day's lows. Share prices of other stocks in the group such as Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Wilmar and Adani Total Gas fell between 5 and 7 percent.

On January 24, 2023, Hindenburg Research released a scathing report titled “Adani Group: How the World’s Third Richest Man Runs the Biggest Fraud in Corporate History,” accusing the group of financial fraud and stock price manipulation. After the publication of this report, Adani Group's share price fell by 10%. This report stated that Adani Group companies manipulated the share price. Adani Group committed “the biggest fraud in corporate history” by using its corporate network in tax havens to boost profits and manipulate share prices, the newspaper said, despite mounting condemnation. The company had rejected the allegations. Gautam Adani, in his subsequent speech at Adani's annual general meeting, said the report was a calculated strike aimed at defaming the Adani Group with the intent to cause maximum harm. “Ordinary traders want to profit from the financial markets. That was different. It was a two-pronged attack – a blunt criticism of our financial situation, but also a political one. It was a disinformation campaign that brought them to their side” Adani said.

In February 2023, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court seeking the setting up of a committee headed by a retired judge to look into the allegations. On March 2, 2023, the Supreme Court ordered a six-member panel to investigate whether there were any regulatory gaps in the handling of alleged violations of securities market laws involving Adani Group or other companies. In May 2023, the National Selection Committee submitted its report. On May 17, 2023, the Supreme Court gave SEBI time to report on its investigation into allegations of share price manipulation by Adani. On November 24, 2023, the Supreme Court reserved judgment on several petitions related to the Adani-Hindenburg dispute. On January 3, 2024, the Supreme Court refused to transfer the investigation to a special team and directed SEBI to complete investigations in the two pending cases within three months. In late June 2024, Mr. Hindenburg reported that he received an email from SEBI on June 27, in which he received a notice of alleged violations related to betting on Adani shares.

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Gautam Adani  Adani Group