Adani Group to respond to US bribery allegations after legal review

By Satviki Sanjay

 

The Adani Group will respond to bribery allegations leveled by the US after a detailed legal review and once it has secured approvals from its counsel to speak on sub-judice issues.  

“We will respond in fullness of time once we review in detail the matter as presented in the legal filing,” Adani Group Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder Singh said in a post on X on Saturday. None of the group’s 11 companies have been subjected to indictment and its issuers have not been accused of any wrongdoing, he said. 

 

US prosecutors on Wednesday charged Indian billionaire Gautam Adani with involvement in a plan to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to win solar energy contracts, and concealing the plan as the group sought money from US investors.  

 

In a five-count indictment, the prosecutors also accused the billionaire’s nephew Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, both executives at Adani’s renewable energy company Adani Green Energy Ltd., of breaking US laws.

 

The charges are related to one contract of Adani Green, which is about 10 per cent of the overall business of that firm, Singh said in the post, adding the group became aware of the “specificity” of the allegations two days ago.

 

Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing and said it would seek all possible legal recourse to defend itself. It scrapped a $600 million bond sale on Thursday.

 

Most Adani Group stock rebounded on Friday, led by the conglomerate’s cement firms, after the bribery charges erased $27 billion from the conglomerate’s market value the previous day. 

 

India’s capital markets regulator is also looking into whether the group violated rules mandating the disclosure of market-moving information, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.