Foreign media draw attention to ‘text trail, links to Modi’

Update: At 13:41 on 21 November 2024, Adani Group-owned NDTV Profit released a statement saying the conglomerate denies the allegations against it and will seek an appeal.

A US federal court has charged businessman Gautam Adani with securities fraud, conspiracy and bribery, accusing him of offering Rs 2,029 crore in bribes to Indian government officials to secure “lucrative power supply contracts solar” with state electricity distribution companies, according to a US attorney’s office.

An arrest warrant was also issued against Adani Group chairman, his nephew Sagar Adani and six others named in the case “for their roles in a multi-billion dollar scheme to obtain funds from investors Americans and global financial institutions based on false and misleading statements.” The warrant will be handed over to foreign law enforcement authorities, according to media reports.

The others named in the file are: Vneet S Jaain, CEO of Adani Green Energy; Ranjit Gupta, former CEO of Azure Power Global; Rupesh Agarwal, previously worked with Azure Power; and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra, employees of a Canadian institutional investor.

The US government statement said the solar contracts were “designed to generate more than $2 billion in after-tax profits” over 20 years, and on “several occasions” between 2000 and 2024, Gautam Adani “met personally with an Indian government official to further the bribery scheme”.

Indian publications have reported extensively on this issue. But by 12:30, News laundry I couldn’t find any coverage of it NDTVhis website.

What did the foreign press say?

“Adani, one of Asia’s richest men and a supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was indicted in Brooklyn on charges including securities fraud and conspiracy. The SEC filed parallel charges in the “massive bribery scheme,” according to a report in the .

The report added that Adani Group shares fell after the tycoon was accused of “lying to investors to get lucrative contracts”.

In early trading today, Adani Group saw its biggest stock market drop since it was hit by a short-selling attack in February 2023, following Hindenburg Research’s allegations of “barbarous stock manipulation,” ” accounting fraud’ and ‘money laundering’. said a report in .

A the report said the Indian businessman, who “built his fortune in the coal business” in the 1990s, “is accused of defrauding investors who poured several billion dollars into the project by failing to tell them of a plan to -secures profitable solar energy supply contracts. “.

A report in pointed out that the case involved an “arrangement for Adani Green Energy and another firm to sell 12 gigawatts of solar power to the Indian government—enough to light millions of homes and businesses” and that the indictment “accuses Adani and its co-defendants of playing two sides of the deal’. It said the regulator was “looking for monetary and other sanctions”.

A the report said that “reports of this bribery investigation have been circulating for months. Prosecutors said the U.S. began investigating the company in 2022 and found the investigation obstructed. It said the executives “raised $3 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the back of false and misleading statements.”

Adani Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment, said a report.

A trail of text messages

The the report cited details from the 54-page indictment to provide insight into the “bribery scheme.” It said Gautam Adani is accused of “personally having face-to-face discussions with an Indian official in connection with the bribery arrangements”.

“Sagar Adani had notes on his mobile phone tracking the region where the bribe was paid, the amount paid and the estimated size of the contract for the solar business his company should provide in return.” It said the text messages would have revealed other Adani Group associates tried to destroy evidence and mislead federal investigators.

A report in said that, according to court documents, “some of the defendants privately referred to Gautam Adani by the code names ‘Numero uno’ and ‘the big man’.” “A New York judge has issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Adani, which will be given to foreign law enforcement, court records show.”

The report also stated that “an Australian businessman is among Adani’s co-conspirators”. “Australian businessman Cyril Cabanes, who also holds French citizenship, was working for the Canadian investor in Singapore” and was charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a US anti-bribery law.

It also highlighted criticism of Adani Group’s Australian subsidiary Bravus, which owns the Carmichael coal mine in Central Queensland, “one of the most controversial mining projects in Australian history”. There have been protests against the project due to its impact on the Great Barrier Reef, groundwater and carbon emissions.

Close ties with Modi in focus

The reported that, according to the indictment, Adani Green Energy “attempted to raise money from US and international investors with a 2021 bond offering based on false and misleading statements about the company’s anti-corruption and anti-bribery efforts.”

The report also notes that Adani’s “political connections” set it apart.” It said his personal relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi “helped Adani’s company win lucrative contracts. In some cases, the government changed the bidding rules to help the company win control of the airports.”

“Mr Adani and Mr Modi are both from the state of Gujarat and when Mr Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014, he flew to New Delhi on an Adani aircraft. Their relationship has created a widespread perception in India that Mr Adani can make any deal he wants and that there is an uneven playing field.”

“US accuses tycoon Gautam Adani of defrauding investors, hiding plan to bribe Indian officials,” reads the headline of a report in . It noted that “Adani Group has stated its aim to become the country’s largest player in space by 2030” and “Adani’s close ties with the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have simultaneously drawn criticism.” . He further said that Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has also demanded a parliamentary inquiry into Adani’s activities.

A report titled “Indian tycoon Gautam Adani charged in US over massive bribery scheme” on was not available at the time of writing this report. “The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.”

Small teams can do great things. All it takes is a subscription. now and the working power of Newslaundry.