Gautam Adani, the billionaire founder an India business conglomerate, was charged by the Justice Department with orchestrating a massive bribery scheme to pay off Indian government officials to secure lucrative solar-energy supply contracts. An indictment alleges Adani personally met with Indian officials to advance the illicit deal and secure contracts worth billions of dollars for a renewable-energy company owned by the conglomerate, the Wall Street Journal reports. Prosecutors said Adani, 62, and two Adani Green Energy executives conspired to misrepresent the renewable-energy firm’s antibribery and corruption practices to U.S. investors and financial institutions to obtain financing.
“My office is committed to rooting out corruption in the international marketplace and protecting investors from those who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. The Adani Group said it "has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations.” Gautam Adani founded the Adani Group in 1988. It built its energy empire on coal and is now setting up a solar supply chain. It is building a solar farm in Western India planned to cover an area over five times the size of Paris. The group’s flagship firm, Adani Enterprises, has started making materials used for making solar-power cells and panels. Adani’s firm has capitalized on India’s goal of increasing renewable energy while reducing dependence on Chinese imports.
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