In a stock exchange filing, the Adani Group has refuted bribery allegations brought by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against its founder and Chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and Adani Green Energy's MD and CEO Vineet Jaain.
AGEL has described the news reports alleging bribery and corruption charges against Adani Officials as 'incorrect' in its filing.
The statement by Adani Green Energy Ltd. clarified that media reports claiming their directors Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jain have been charged with violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) are incorrect.
The statement added that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain have not been accused of any FCPA violations in the charges listed in the US DOJ indictment or the US SEC civil complaint.
IIn a legal indictment, a count denotes specific charges against a defendant. The document reveals that the DoJ Indictment, which lists five counts, does not reference or include Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, or Vneet Jaain in Count One: 'Conspiracy to Violate the FCPA'; nor are these three names mentioned in Count Five: 'Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice.'
Count One of the indictment, related to corruption and bribery allegations, exclusively implicates Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra, and Rupesh Agarwal from Azure Power and CDPQ (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec - a Canadian institutional investor and Azure's major shareholder).
The statement reveals that Adani officials are accused of Count 2: 'Alleged securities fraud conspiracy,' Count 3: 'Alleged wire fraud conspiracy,' and Count 4: 'Alleged securities fraud.'
The DoJ Indictment lacks evidence showing that Adani executives bribed Indian government officials; it relies solely on allegations that bribes were promised or discussed.
Adani Group, a major infrastructure company in India, has extensive operations in global energy and logistics. Recently, the Indian conglomerate has been expanding its international presence, competing with various US and Chinese firms in regions such as Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Israel, Australia, and beyond.
Since the US Department of Justice indictment was announced, the group's market capitalization has dropped by almost USD 55 billion across its 11 publicly traded companies.