Gautam Adani’s net worth plunged by over $10.5 billion or nearly ₹88,726 crore on Thursday, November 21, 2024, after being indicted in New York, US, over his role in an alleged multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme. According to the official US authorities, more than $250 million in bribes were promised to Indian Government officials to secure solar energy contracts.
During today’s session, the bribery scandal triggered a rout in the Adani Group stocks. Several Adani Group shares, including those of the flagship firm Adani Enterprises, suffered massive losses and hit their lower circuits in early trade. The sharp selloff in the group stock wiped out over ₹2 lakh crore from the Adani Group’s market capitalisation (m-cap). The group’s total m-cap declined to nearly ₹12.1 lakh crore, down from ₹14.31 lakh crore in the previous session.
What is the US bribery indictment scandal against Gautam Adani?
“A five-count criminal indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, executives of an Indian renewable-energy company, with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from US investors and global financial institutions based on false and misleading statements,” said a statement from US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York.
“The indictment also charges Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of a renewable-energy company with securities that had traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of a Canadian institutional investor, with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with a bribery scheme also perpetrated by Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, involving one of the world’s largest solar energy projects,” it added.
Adani Group denied the allegations and said it will seek all possible legal recourse. “The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” it said. “The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations. We assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organisation, fully compliant with all laws,” it added.