Indian billionaire Adani, close to Narendra Modi, is accused of having paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes by the United States justice system

Gautam Adani, at the World Congress of Accountants, in Bombay, India, November 19, 2022. INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP The indictment is likely to seriously damage the reputation of Gautam Adani, the second richest man in India which founded a veritable empire in the wake of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The 62-year-old industrialist, whose personal fortune is estimated at $69.8 billion (around 66 billion euros), according to the Forbes ranking, was indicted on Wednesday, November 20, by the American federal court in New York for fraud and corruption. Brooklyn District Attorney Breon Peace said the tycoon and seven other defendants, including his nephew, Sagar Adani, executive director of Adani Green Energy’s board, and Vneet Jaain, his board’s chief executive of directors, are suspected of having offered $250 million in bribes to Indian officials between 2020 and 2024 to win solar energy supply contracts and obtain their commitment to purchase energy at rates above market rates. The investigation was led by the FBI. According to the prosecutor, the defendants “orchestrated a plan to corrupt Indian government officials in order to obtain contracts worth billions of dollars”, thus seeking to “enrich themselves at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets. The case concerns a deal to sell 12 gigawatts of solar power to the Indian government. Adani Green raised $750 million for the deal – including about $175 million from US investors – in a September 2021 bond offering that included disclosures about its anti-corruption and anti-corruption efforts. -of wine. Intimate of Narendra Modi “The accused,” the statement said, “met frequently and discussed the corruption program, including on their telephone messages. » Gautam Adani is said to have personally met with a representative of the Indian government to advance the transaction and obtain the contracts. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In Bombay, the largest slum in Asia threatened by the greed of real estate developers Read later American justice also announced that the tycoon is the subject of civil action, along with two other people, in the same Brooklyn court, for violating US securities anti-fraud provisions. Gautam Adani has built a conglomerate that operates in all sectors of the economy, from coal to green energy, from infrastructure to airports, from defense equipment to media, to the rehabilitation of the Dharavi slum in Bombay. He launched into solar energy, just as the Indian government decided to massively develop this resource to achieve its climate objectives. The man knows better than any other how to anticipate the strategic choices of the Prime Minister. You have 48.19% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.



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