A press release by the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York on November 20, revealed that Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and a few others have been indicted for allegedly paying more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian government, which were projected to generate more than $2 billion in profits after tax over an approximately 20-year period (the Bribery Scheme).
The five-count criminal indictment was unsealed 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.
As alleged in the indictment, between approximately 2020 and 2024, the defendants agreed to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian government. Most significantly, it is also alleged that on several occasions, Gautam Adani personally met with an Indian government official to advance the Bribery Scheme, and the defendants held in-person meetings with each other to discuss aspects of its execution. Moreover, the defendants frequently discussed their efforts in furtherance of the Bribery Scheme, including through an electronic messaging application.
Interestingly, the indictment alleged that the defendants also extensively documented their corrupt efforts: for example, Sagar Adani used his cellular phone to track specific details of the bribes offered and promised to government officials; Vneet S. Jaain used his cellular phone to photograph a document summarizing various bribe amounts the U.S. Issuer owed the Indian Energy Company for its respective portion of the bribes; and Rupesh Agarwal prepared and distributed to other defendants multiple analyses using PowerPoint and Excel that summarized various options for paying and concealing bribe payments.
During this same period, Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain allegedly conspired to misrepresent the Indian Energy Company’s anti-bribery and corruption practices and conceal the Bribery Scheme from U.S. investors and international financial institutions in order to obtain financing, including to fund those solar energy supply contracts procured through bribery. As alleged, Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain caused the Indian Energy Company and certain of its subsidiaries to raise capital on the basis of false and misleading statements in connection with (i) two U.S. dollar-denominated syndicate loans totalling more than $2 billion from lender groups comprised of international financial institutions and U.S.-based investors; and (ii) two Rule 144A bond offerings for more than $1 billion underwritten by international financial institutions, which were marketed and sold to investors in the U.S., among other places. In addition, Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain caused the Indian Energy Company to make false statements in their consolidated financial statements and to the market and investors regarding the Bribery Scheme.
The indictment further alleges that Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal conspired to obstruct the grand jury, FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigations into the Bribery Scheme. Among other things, those four defendants agreed to delete electronic materials related to the Bribery Scheme, including emails, electronic messages and Bribery Analyses; caused the U.S. Issuer’s Board of Directors to initiate an internal investigation into the Bribery Scheme and then withheld material information from that investigation; and falsely denied their participation in the Bribery Scheme to representatives of the FBI, DOJ and SEC at meetings in Brooklyn, New York. For this conduct, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal are charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Lisa H. Miller, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI) announced the charges.
“As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars and Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from US and international investors. My Office is committed to rooting out corruption in the international marketplace and protecting investors from those who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets.” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace.
“Gautam Adani and seven other business executives allegedly bribed the Indian government to finance lucrative contracts designed to benefit their businesses. Adani and other defendants also defrauded investors by raising capital on the basis of false statements about bribery and corruption, while still other defendants allegedly attempted to conceal the bribery conspiracy by obstructing the government’s investigation. The FBI maintains its steadfast mission to expose all corrupt agreements, especially with international governments, and protect investors from related harm.” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy.
Author: Nitish Kashyap
Please Click Here To Read The Indictment.