Federal prosecutors in New York charged the Indian tycoon Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest people, with multiple counts of fraud on Wednesday, accusing him and associates of bribing Indian officials and later lying to investors about the scheme. The defendants are accused of paying more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain solar energy contracts worth billions of dollars for Adani Green Energy, a renewable energy company majority-owned by Adani Group. Mr. Adani discussed the bribery plan with officials in person, prosecutors said. “As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars,” Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the district, said in a statement. Mr. Adani and his associates “lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from U.S. and international investors.”
Source: International New York Times November 21, 2024 17:19 UTC