The Adani Group, accused in the US of alleged bribery charges to secure solar energy contracts from Indian government officials, has appointed two prominent law firms for its defence in the US court, according to a report by The Economic Times. The firms representing Adani are Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, headquartered in Los Angeles, and Kirkland & Ellis, based in Chicago.
What is the case against Adani Green Energy Ltd?
On November 21, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicted Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, along with others, over allegations of paying $265 million bribe to India’s Andhra Pradesh government officials. The SEC said the bribe was paid to secure the solar energy contracts for Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
The SEC has charged Adani and others under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), accusing them of a $265 million bribery and fraud scheme that allegedly brought in $2 billion in profits over 20 years.
Adani Group denies bribery charges
Responding to the allegations, AGEL clarified that its founder Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vneet S Jaain had not been charged under the US FCPA or any bribery laws. The case is pursued by the SEC and the Eastern District of New York, and is now with a single judge in a US court.
The SEC also flagged AGEL’s $750 million bond issuance from September 2021, which involved $175 million from US investors. The complaint claims that the documents for the bond included misleading information about the company’s anti-corruption measures.
Also Read
About Quinn Emanuel and Kirkland & Ellis
Quinn Emanuel is a law firm based in Los Angeles, claiming to be the largest in the world focused only on business litigation and arbitration. The firm’s lawyers have handled over 2,300 cases, won 88 per cent of them, and secured more than $70 billion in judgments and settlements.
The firm works on complex cases involving business disputes, intellectual property, antitrust, securities, and white-collar crime. It has worked on important cases for companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Uber. Quinn Emanuel mainly deals with securities cases, product liability, and regulatory investigations.
Kirkland & Ellis is based in Chicago and operates in 21 cities worldwide, including in Asia and Europe. The firm specialises in high-profile commercial and intellectual property cases, as well as white-collar crime and government disputes. It has represented major tech companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook, along with companies like Johnson & Johnson and Volkswagen in environmental and product liability cases.