In its first detailed response to the US authorities’ indictment, the Adani group has clarified that there are no bribery charges against billionaire Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain, as per the US Department of Justice indictment.
In a statement to the exchanges, Adani Green Energy said that neither the Adanis nor Jaain has been charged with any violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act “in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US DOJ or the civil complaint of the US SEC.” The Adani group, in a separate media statement, said it has also not been charged with any conspiracy to obstruct justice in the US DOJ indictment or the civil complaint of the US SEC.
The group said that those charged with conspiracy to violate FCPA, as per the US DoJ indictment, were are Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra, and Rupesh Agarwal.
It clarified that, in the criminal indictment, the directors have been charged on three counts: alleged securities fraud conspiracy, alleged wire fraud conspiracy, and alleged securities fraud.
It added that only officials of Azure Energy and Canadian institutional investor Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) had been charged with bribery in the US indictment.
Since Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain have not been charged with FCPA violation and obstruction of justice, “they cannot be charged by the US authorities on securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and securities fraud,” the statement said.
In a media statement, the Adani group said that since the intimation of the US DoJ Indictment, the group has suffered a loss of nearly $55 billion in its market capitalisation across its 11 listed companies.
The group said that a flawed understanding of the indictment against the directors of Adani Green Energy had led to a steep decline in group stocks, credit rating downgrades, and the withdrawal of $600 million worth of green bonds by Adani Green. It pointed out that TotalEnergies had halted new investments in Adani firms, while the US International Development Finance Corporation was reviewing its $550 million port development loan for a container terminal in Colombo.
One of its strong backers, GQG Partners, has faced financial setbacks due to its substantial holdings in Adani companies. while US investment bank Jefferies is reconsidering its relationship with the group, the statement said.