New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said the fresh charges of Rs 2,100 crore bribery and fraud against billionaire Gautam Adani filed in a US court vindicates their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the conglomerate’s dealings, claiming the scams have been carried out with “obvious protection from Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
The opposition party has called for the appointment of “a new and credible” SEBI chief to ensure the completion of securities law investigations into what it describes as the “Adani Mega Scam.”
What are the charges against Adani?
US prosecutors have accused Gautam Adani of involvement in a years-long scheme to pay $250 million (Rs 2,100 crore) in bribes to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.
US prosecutors have charged Adani, 62, along with his nephew Sagar and other co-defendants, alleging they paid over $250 million in bribes between 2020 and 2024 to secure solar energy contracts on terms that could yield more than $2 billion in profits.
In a statement, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the actions of the US Securities and Exchange Commission have also highlighted the shortcomings of its Indian counterpart, SEBI, in investigating alleged violations of securities and other laws by the Adani Group.
“The indictment of Gautam Adani and others by the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) of the US vindicates the demand that the Indian National Congress has been making since Jan 2023 for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the various Modani scams,” he wrote in a post on X.
“The INC had asked a hundred questions in its Hum Adani ke Hain (HAHK) series bringing out the various dimensions of these scams and of the intimate nexus that has existed between the PM and his favourite businessman. These questions have remained unanswered,” he said.
The Congress reiterates its demand for a JPC into the transactions of the Adani Group, which is leading to growing monopolisation in key sectors of the Indian economy, fuelling inflation, and posing huge foreign policy challenges as well, especially in our neighbourhood, Ramesh said.
The five-count indictment of Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani and others unsealed by the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York has revealed more shocking details about Adani’s criminal activities. It alleges that they paid over $250 million (Rs 2,100 crore) in bribes to… https://t.co/PTcjMzLwBh
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 21, 2024
In another statement, he highlighted that the five-count indictment against Gautam Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and others, unsealed by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, has exposed further shocking details of Adani’s alleged criminal activities.
“The indictment alleges that over $250 million (Rs 2,100 crore) in bribes were paid to Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024,” Ramesh said. “These bribes were reportedly paid to secure lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian government, projected to generate more than $2 billion (Rs 16,800 crore) in after-tax profits,” he added.
According to the allegations, “Gautam S. Adani personally met with an Indian government official on several occasions to advance the bribery scheme,” with claims of electronic and phone evidence supporting this, the Congress leader stated.
“All of this is consistent with a long record of fraud and criminality carried out with impunity with the obvious protection of the Prime Minister,” Ramesh alleged.
US law permits the pursuit of foreign corruption allegations if they have specific links to American investors or markets. The Adani Group has not yet responded to the charges.
In a statement, Breon Peace, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the defendants had orchestrated a sophisticated scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars.
Gautam Adani, chairman of the ports-to-energy Adani Group, his nephew Sagar R. Adani, an executive director at Adani Green Energy Ltd, and the conglomerate’s former CEO Vneet Jaain have been charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy, and wire fraud conspiracy.
In addition, the Adanis face charges in a civil case filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The five-count indictment also accuses Sagar and Jaain of violating federal laws.
