The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York on November 20, 2024, unsealed a five-count criminal indictment in federal court in Brooklyn, charging Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, chair of the Adani Group, along with Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, executives of an Indian renewable energy company, referred to as the Indian Energy Company.
The indictment against them alleges conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud, as well as substantive securities fraud, linked to a multi-billion-dollar scheme to secure funds from U.S. investors and global financial institutions through false and misleading statements.
In addition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that the indictment names Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of a renewable-energy company whose securities were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the U.S. Issuer, along with Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of a Canadian institutional investor.
These individuals are accused of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with a bribery scheme involving Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain. The alleged bribery facilitated one of the world’s largest solar energy projects.
The charges were announced by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Lisa H. Miller, and Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New York Field Office, James E. Dennehy.
“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 U.S. and international investors,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “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.”
“This indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250 million 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 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 U.S. law, no matter where in the world it occurs.”
“Gautam S. 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,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy. “The FBI maintains its steadfast mission to expose all corrupt agreements, especially with international governments, and protect investors from related harm.”
According to the indictment, between 2020 and 2024, the defendants conspired to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure lucrative solar energy supply contracts. These contracts were expected to yield more than $2 billion in post-tax profits over a 20-year period, referred to as the “Bribery Scheme.”
“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. The defendants frequently discussed their efforts in furtherance of the Bribery Scheme, including through an electronic messaging application,” added the statement.
