The billionaire and other co-defendants allegedly paid more than $250 million to Indian officials “in order to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian government.”
Indian tycoon Gautam Adani was indicted Wednesday by federal courts in New York, accusing him of paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to obtain solar energy contracts with the Indian government. by hiding it from American investors.
According to a press release from the Brooklyn prosecutor's office, the Indian billionaire – one of the richest men in the world – paid with other co-defendants more than $250 million in bribes between 2020 and 2024 to Indian officials “in order to secure lucrative solar power supply contracts with the Indian government”. No arrests were made, the prosecution said.
Close to Narendra Modi
The bribes would have been used, according to prosecutor Breon Peace, “to obtain contracts worth billions of dollars” in the field of solar energy, and Gautam Adani is said to have “lied about this corruption scheme while they sought to raise funds from American and international investors”.
According to American justice, Gautam Adani, considered close to Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “met personally with a representative of the Indian government to implement this corruption scheme and the accused met in person to discuss aspects of its implementation”.
Gautam Adani is the founder and eponymous boss of the Adani Group conglomerate, which ranges from coal mines to ports and airports, including the media. In 2023, his group was accused of “shameless manipulation” of his own actions as well as “accounting fraud over several decades” by the American investment company Hindenburg Research. Gautam Adani has rejected these accusations.
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