The Adani Group has taken a key step to face its legal troubles in the United States. The Gautam Adani-led conglomerate and its executives are facing charges of alleged bribery and securities fraud, among others.
The Adani Group has taken a key step to face its legal troubles in the United States. The Gautam Adani-led conglomerate and its executives are facing charges of alleged bribery and securities fraud, among others.
The group has tapped two big US law firms, Kirkland & Ellis and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, to fight the cases, reported the Economic Times (ET). Both firms specialise in securities litigation and white-collar cases. They have reportedly also represented some major tech firms like Google and Meta.
The US cases against Adani Group executives were revealed on November 20, where they were accused of misleading American investors about their firm's anti-corruption practices while raising money via bonds in 2021. The US market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the US Justice Department in the Eastern District of New York filed these cases.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Adani Group's Chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and Cyril Cabanes, an executive of former US-listed firm Azure Power Global Ltd.
The SEC alleges that Gautam and Sagar Adani paid or promised hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Indian government officials to secure overpriced solar energy contracts. These bribes were allegedly concealed during a $750 million bond offering by Adani Green, the renewable energy arm of Adani Group. The firm raised $175 million from US investors based on "misleading claims of anti-corruption policies."
Cyril Cabanes was charged under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for "authorizing bribes" while working as a director of Azure Power. The SEC is seeking civil penalties, permanent injunctions, and bans on the accused serving as officers or directors.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has expanded the case, charging Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, Vneet Jaain, and five others with securities and wire fraud, along with conspiracy to violate the FCPA. They claim that between 2020 and 2024, the Adani Group executives allegedly paid over $250 million in bribes to secure Indian government solar energy contracts, projected to yield over $2 billion in profits for Adani Green.
The indictment also accuses the group of misleading US investors and global financial institutions to secure over $3 billion in financing using false claims about anti-bribery measures. Some defendants, including Cyril Cabanes, are accused of conspiring to obstruct investigations by deleting evidence and withholding information during internal and government inquiries.
The Adani Group has called the allegations "baseless" and vowed to seek all legal recourse. They also stated that Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani themselves have not been charged with violating the FCPA.
The Indian government project mentioned in these cases is a Solar project in Andhra Pradesh, which was approved in 2021. It was a power purchase agreement (PPA) between Adani Green Energy and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to supply 7,000 megawatts (MW) of solar power to the state.
A Reuters report claimed that it was approved by the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government, setting aside concerns raised by officials.