On Wednesday, Indian tycoon Gautam Adani and several high-ranking officials were charged in New York by American prosecutors for their purported involvement in an extensive, multi-million-dollar bribery and fraud conspiracy concerning the development of a significant solar energy facility. The Department of Justice (DOJ) disclosed in a statement that Adani, a prominent supporter of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with seven other executives, including his nephew Sagar Adani, allegedly pledged over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure contracts in the solar energy sector.

The repercussions of these accusations, which surfaced more than a year after a US short-seller accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, were swiftly observed across the extensive conglomerate. On Thursday, the stock prices of the group's publicly traded companies plummeted between 10% and 20%, resulting in a loss of nearly $30 billion in total market value, according. This development has also stirred political unrest within India, with the Indian National Congress, a major opposition party to Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, reiterating demands for a parliamentary inquiry into Adani's businesses. The DOJ claims that the solar energy supply contracts were anticipated to generate more than $2 billion in profits after taxes over a period of approximately 20 years. Authorities have stated that Adani, aged 62, personally met with an Indian government official to "further" the scheme, which was active between 2020 and 2024. The defendants allegedly held frequent meetings and discussed the bribery scheme, with evidence found on multiple phones. "This indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, to deceive investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice," Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa Miller stated. "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 US investors," she added. In a statement, the Adani Group dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and denied any wrongdoing. "The Adani Group has always upheld and remains steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency, and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations. We assure our stakeholders, partners, and employees that we are a law-abiding organization, fully compliant with all laws," said a spokesperson for the group.

Adani, with a net worth of over $85 billion, is the second-richest person in Asia, following his compatriot Mukesh Ambani, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. In a letter to India's two main stock exchanges, Adani Green, which is constructing the world's largest energy plant on the outskirts of Western India, acknowledged the separate criminal and civil indictments filed by US officials. Sagar Adani serves as the executive director of the company. "In light of these developments, our subsidiaries have currently decided against proceeding with the proposed USD-denominated bond offerings," it stated. Financial Times reported that the bond sale was valued at $600 million. US authorities have claimed that Adani and his associates attempted to conceal the alleged bribery schemes from US investors "in order to secure financing, including to fund those solar energy supply contracts obtained through bribery." They referred to documentation, including a cell phone used to meticulously track specific details on the bribes, a photograph of a document summarizing various bribe amounts, and PowerPoint and Excel analyses "that summarized various options for paying and concealing bribe payments." In a parallel civil action, the Securities and Exchange Commission also charged both Adanis (as executives of Adani Green Energy Ltd) and Cyril Cabanes, an executive of Azure Power Global, for the bribery scheme that the SEC claimed allowed both companies to capitalize on a lucrative contract awarded by the Indian government.

he SEC stated that Adani Green raised over $175 million from US investors based on those misrepresentations. Efforts have been made to reach India's Ministry of External Affairs for comment. For over a year, the Adani Group has been striving to restore its reputation following allegations made in January 2023 by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research of an "audacious stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme." The billionaire's fortune, which at one point in 2022 was worth more than that of Jeff Bezos, plummeted by over $80 billion following the report. In its investigation, which Hindenburg claimed took two years to compile, the American firm questioned the "sky-high valuations" of Adani companies and stated that their "substantial debt" put the entire group "on a precarious financial footing." Short-sellers profit by betting that a company's stock will decline. The Adani Group published a 400-page rebuttal, dismissing the Hindenburg analysis as "nothing but a lie." Adani began his career in diamond trading. He established a commodity trading business in 1988, which later evolved into Adani Enterprises, and now encompasses companies in key sectors ranging from ports and power to media and clean energy.