US Court indicts Gautam Adani, nephew Sagar, and others for $265 million bribery in Indian Solar projects

Arrest warrant issued for Gautam Adani, nephew Sagar in bribery case

US prosecutors in New York indicted Adani Group Chairman Gautam S Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and six others on Wednesday for bribery of $265 million (Rs.2,029 crore) in getting “lucrative solar energy supply contracts” with state electricity distribution companies. According to court records, a judge has issued arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, and prosecutors plan to hand those warrants to foreign law enforcement.

The other six persons indicted are:

1. Vneet Jaain, who is the CEO of Adani Green Energy Ltd
2. Ranjit Gupta (who was CEO of Azure Power Global Ltd between 2019 and 2022)
3. Rupesh Agarwal, who also worked with Azure Power (between 2022 and 2023)
4. Cyril Cabanes, a citizen of Australia and France
5. Saurabh Agarwal
6. Deepak Malhotra

Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra worked with a Canadian institutional investor.

“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,” a press release issued by the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, said quoting US Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa H Miller. Sagar Adani is Executive Director of Adani Green Energy.

Terming Adani projects a “corrupt solar project”, the prosecutors said the “Indian Energy Company” and the “US Issuer” won awards to supply 8 gigawatts and 4 gigawatts of solar power at a fixed rate to state-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India. However since SECI could not find any state electricity distribution companies to purchase this power, it could not enter into corresponding power purchase agreements with Adani Group and Azure Power.

As a result, in or about 2020, the defendants Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani, Vneet S Jaain, Ranjit Gupta, and Co-Conspirator #2, among others, devised a scheme to offer, authorize, make, and promise to make bribe payments to Indian government officials in exchange for the government officials causing state electricity distribution companies to enter into power supply agreements with SECI,” it said. Co-Conspirator #2 is one of the two conspirators who once worked with the “US Issuer” and “undertook extensive efforts to corruptly persuade government officials”.

Referring to a high-ranking government official of Andhra Pradesh as “Foreign Official #1”, it said, “Rs.1,750 crore (approximately $228 million) of the corrupt payments was offered in exchange for… causing Andhra Pradesh’s state electricity distribution companies to agree to purchase seven gigawatts of solar power from SECI (state-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India) under the Manufacturing Linked Project.”

Gautam Adani, the indictment said, had personally met “Foreign Official #1” to advance the execution of a power supply agreement between SECI and Andhra Pradesh’s state electricity distribution companies thrice during August-November 2021.

According to an indictment, some conspirators referred privately to Gautam Adani with the code names “Numero uno” and “the big man,” while Sagar Adani allegedly used his mobile phone to track specifics about the bribes.

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