New York: A comprehensive criminal indictment, encompassing five counts, has been formally unsealed within the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. This indictment charges several prominent Indian executives, including Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, with involvement in an alleged scheme of bribery and fraud, as reported by Reuters.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, "A five-count criminal indictment was unsealed in federal court, alleging that Gautam Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain are conspirators in the commission of securities and wire fraud, as well as substantive securities fraud. This is in relation to their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme aimed at securing investments from U.S. investors and global financial institutions, based on false and misleading statements."
The indictment also includes charges against Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of a renewable-energy company whose securities have been traded on the New York Stock Exchange (U.S. Issuer), and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of a Canadian institutional investor, for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with the alleged bribery scheme.
As alleged, the defendants orchestrated a sophisticated scheme to secure contracts worth billions of dollars, while Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain have been accused of lying about the bribery scheme as they sought to attract investments from U.S. and international investors.
"The defendants are accused of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars. Additionally, Adani and other defendants are alleged to have deceived investors by raising capital on the basis of false statements regarding bribery and corruption, while other defendants are accused of attempting to conceal the bribery conspiracy by obstructing the government's investigation," stated United States Attorney Breon Peace.
Breon Peace further alleged that the individuals named in the indictment have undermined the integrity of international financial markets and defrauded U.S. and global investors.
The indictment also accuses the executives of obstructing investigations by the FBI, Department of Justice (DOJ), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It is important to note that the charges outlined in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The investigation into this matter was conducted by the FBI's New York's Corporate, Securities and Commodities Fraud, and International Corruption Units.
The case is being managed by the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, in conjunction with the Criminal Division's Fraud Section.
There has been no official response from the office of Gautam Adani or the other individuals named in the indictment.
