$25O mn Adani bribery saga: Whistleblower tip to WA trail

Adani group has refuted the allegations by the US Department of Justice and US SEC, terming them as 'baseless'

- varun Sood

Two whistleblower complaints flagging financial impropriety at a small New York Stock Exchange-listed company marked the start ofa two-year probe by the US government into the Adani group. On Thursday, the probe culminated in the indictment of billionaire Gautam Adani and seven others in a $250 million bribery scam, sinking the stocks ofthe Indian conglomerate.

Adani group denied the allegations by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, terming the allegations against its directors, including Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, "baseless". NYSE-listed Azure Power Global Ltd, had disclosed in its annual report for 2022-ZB that its audit committee had received two whistleblower complaints-in May 2022 and September 2022 detailing improper payments to Indian government officials.

An internal probe didn't find wrongdoing, the New Delhi-headquartered company said, sharing the complaints and its investigation with the US justice department and market regulator.

"We have disclosed the details of the Special Committees investigation to the SEC and the US Department of Justice, and we continue to cooperate with those agencies," the firm said in its annual report for the financial year ended March 2023.

As part of its probe, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F BI) served a grand jury subpoena notice to Sagar Adani in March 2023.

The Adarli group did not disclose this information when Adani Green Energy Ltd raised $2 billion from foreign investors, including American investors, according to the US justice department.