Indictment and its Aftermath

US prosecutors' decision to press charges against Gautam Adani and others in a case of alleged bribery could hit the group's ambitious expansion plans

- ANAND ADHIKARI

THE RECENT INDICTMENT of the Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani (in photo) and seven others in the US on charges of fraud and bribery have triggered global repercussions for the ports-toretail conglomerate, apart from a steep initial fall in stock prices.

Prosecutors in New York have indicted Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and six others, including a former executive of Adani Green Energy, on counts of fraud over an alleged scheme to bribe Indian officials around $250 million to corner solar power contracts.

In a separate development, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Adani and his associates for "conduct arising out of a massive bribery scheme". It alleges that the group raised funds from US investors without revealing this alleged scheme. This comes almost two years after US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the firm of stock manipulation and accounting fraud.

The group has termed these charges as baseless. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi said in a media briefing that Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar were personally not named in the charges of bribery. He said this was his personal opinion. Rohatgi added, "There is no mention of who was bribed, how they were bribed, or any direct involvement by Adani officials."