Following allegations of bribery and fraud against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, the White House said it is confident that close connections will help India and the US work through the crisis.
The Biden administration is aware of the charges against Adani, the chairman of Adani Group, according to White House news Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who addressed the claims during a news briefing on Friday.
For their roles in a purported multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud conspiracy to acquire lucrative solar energy contracts, Adani, 62, his nephew Sagar Adani, 30, and other executives were indicted in New York.
“We are aware of these allegations, and I would have to refer you to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and DOJ (Department of Justice) about the specifics of those allegations against the Adani Group,” Jean-Pierre said.
Downplaying any potential fallout with India over the bribery scandal, she stated, “What I will say is, on the US and India relationship, we believe that it stands on an extremely strong foundation, anchored in ties between our people and cooperation across a full range of global issues.”
The spokesperson asserted the resilience of India-US bilateral ties, adding, “And so what we believe, and we’re confident about, is that we’ll continue to navigate this issue, as we have with other issues that may have come up.”
Charges of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud as well as substantive securities fraud were brought against Adani and his collaborators, including officials of Adani Green Energy Ltd. and Cyril Cabanes of Azure Power Global Ltd. According to the DOJ, they planned a conspiracy to use deceptive and false representations to raise money from international financial institutions and US investors.
The US claims have been rejected by the Adani Group, which has described them as “baseless.” After the conglomerate’s shares fell more than 23% on Thursday, losing more over Rs 2 lakh crore in market value, the denial was made.
The SEC claims that the bribery plan was created to allow Adani Green and Azure Power, two renewable energy businesses, to profit from a multibillion-dollar solar energy project that the Indian government had granted. The complaint claims that federal securities laws’ antifraud provisions have been broken.
Adani and his accomplices allegedly paid more than $250 million in bribes between 2020 and 2024 to land solar energy contracts worth more than $2 billion in estimated profits after taxes over a roughly 20-year period, according to federal authorities.
According to the SEC, Azure Power’s stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange during this period, and Adani Green raised about $175 million from US investors.
The executives are being barred from having roles in publicly traded firms, and the SEC and DOJ are requesting civil penalties and permanent injunctions.
