Written by Aditi Shah and Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The U.S. bribery indictment against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani relates to one contract with Adani Green Energy Ltd., which accounts for about 10% of the group’s business, and other The companies have not been accused of wrongdoing, the group’s chief financial officer said. Saturday.
Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest men, and seven others were accused of involvement in a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials to secure power supply deals on Wednesday. , was charged with fraud by U.S. prosecutors.
Mr. Adani denied all allegations, calling them “baseless.”
Group CFO Yugesinder Singh said on Saturday that none of Adani’s 11 listed companies were “subject to prosecution” or “accused of wrongdoing in the above legal filings.” He tried to defend his suspicions.
The charges in the US indictment relate to “one Adani Green contract representing approximately 10% of Adani Green’s total business,” Singh told X.
The U.S. prosecutor’s charges are the biggest setback for India’s $143 billion Adani Group, which was hit last year by allegations of offshore tax haven abuse by Hindenburg Research, which the company denied.
The US indictment is already having a major impact on business.
Shares of group companies have plummeted, some World Banks are considering temporarily suspending new loans to Adani, and Kenya has canceled two deals with Adani worth more than $2.5 billion. .
Adani, which has several other global projects, has also been charged with misleading U.S. investors about Adani Green’s compliance with anti-bribery principles and laws.
Singh said on Saturday that he became aware of the “uniqueness” of the US charges only two days ago.
“We knew something was afoot,” he said, adding that the company had disclosed similar information to investors about a $750 million bond issue in 2024, of which about 1. It added that the $75 million was raised from US financial institutions.
However, the U.S. indictment alleges that the bond issue “contains false and misleading assurances about, among other things, the ‘corporate governance’ of the Indian Energy Company (Adani Green) and that ‘transparency in all aspects will be guaranteed.’ and maintaining compliance.”
The charges also put the spotlight on Sagar Adani, Adani Green’s board member and the company’s millennial heir, who recorded on his cellphone hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged bribes to Indian officials. He is a person who was
Singh said the group would issue more detailed comments once it receives legal approval, as the issue is before the courts.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah and Aditya Kalra; Editing by William Mallard, Christopher Cushing and Sam Holmes)
