The accusation is likely to seriously damage the reputation of Gautam Adani, India’s second richest man, who founded a veritable empire after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 62-year-old industrialist, whose personal fortune is estimated at 69.8 billion dollars (about 66 billion euros), according to the ranking ForbesHe was charged on Wednesday, November 20, by the US federal court in New York with fraud and corruption.
Brooklyn District Attorney Breon Peace said the mogul and seven other defendants, including his nephew, Sagar Adani, CEO of Adani Green Energy’s board of directors, and Vneet Jaain, CEO of its board of directors, are suspected of , they offered 250 dollars. millions in bribes to Indian officials between 2020 and 2024 to obtain solar energy supply contracts and obtain their commitment to purchase energy at above-market prices. The investigation was led by the FBI.
According to the prosecutor, the accused “orchestrated a scheme to bribe Indian government officials to obtain contracts worth billions of dollars”, looking like this “Get rich at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets.”
The case concerns an agreement to sell 12 gigawatts of solar energy to the Indian government. Adani Green raised $750 million for the deal — including about $175 million from U.S. investors — in a September 2021 bond offering that included disclosures about its anti-corruption and anti-wine corruption efforts.
Intimate of Narendra Modi
“The accused, noted the press release, “They met frequently and discussed the corruption scheme, even in their phone messages.”. Gautam Adani is said to have personally seen a representative of the Indian government to go ahead with the transaction and secure the contracts.
The US justice system also announced that the tycoon is the subject of a civil lawsuit, along with two other people, before the same Brooklyn court for having violated US anti-fraud provisions on securities matters.
Gautam Adani has built a conglomerate that operates in all sectors of the economy, from coal to green energy, from infrastructure to airports, from defense equipment to media and the rehabilitation of the Dharavi slum in Bombay. He launched into solar energy, just when the Indian government decided to massively develop this resource to achieve its climate goals. This man knows better than any other how to anticipate the Prime Minister’s strategic decisions.
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