Chicago – November 21, 2024
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest people, was indicted by U.S. prosecutors for his alleged role in a $265 million bribery scheme, plunging his conglomerate deep into crisis for the second time in two years.
Adani, 62, was charged in a five-count criminal indictment unsealed Wednesday with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The billionaire, along with the seven other defendants, were accused of paying about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain solar energy contracts worth more than $2 billion in profits.
“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 U.S. investors,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Miller said in a statement.
Prosecutors alleged that Adani and his co-defendants held in-person meetings with each other between 2020 and 2024 to discuss the bribery scheme. According to an indictment, some conspirators referred privately to Adani with the code names “Numero uno” and “the big man.”
