Indian billionaire Gautam Adani attends the 51st Gems and Jewellery Awards in Jaipur, India, November 30, 2024.
Stringer | Reuters
Shares of Adani Group companies fell between 5 to 12% on Friday after reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to send summons to founder Gautam Adani and nephew Sagar Adani on charges of bribery and fraud.
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, chair of India’s Adani Group and one of the world’s richest people, was indicted with seven other men in New York federal court in November 2024 on charges related to a massive bribery and fraud scheme.
According to a Bloomberg report on Friday, the SEC has approached a U.S. District Judge, Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn, seeking permission to issue a legal summons to Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and the executive director of Adani Green Energy, Sagar Adani. CNBC has reached out to Adani Group for comment.
Shares of Adani Green Energy plunged 12% while those of the flagship company Adani Enterprises fell over 8% on Friday. Shares of Adani Power dropped 5%.
The Adani Group executives are charged with misleading U.S. and international investors about their company’s compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption practices, as they raised more than $3 billion in capital to fund those energy contracts.
The SEC told the court it had repeatedly sought assistance from the Indian government to deliver the summons but was unsuccessful, according to the Bloomberg report.
Adani and several other defendants are accused of having paid Indian government officials more than $250 million in bribes to obtain solar energy supply contracts worth more than $2 billion in profits.