Adani Group CFO says certain disclosures about bribery probe were made in the US
“This specifically relates to one contract of Adani Green which is roughly 10% of the overall business of Adani Green (there is a lot more precise and comprehensive detail of this which we will elaborate in an appropriate forum),” Singh wrote in a post on microblogging platform X.
He clarified that the Adani Group has a portfolio of 11 public companies and none are subject to indictment (i.e. defendants in any legal proceedings in the recent DOJ lawyer filings to a court in NYC). Also, that none of the issuers are accused of any wrongdoing in the said legal filing.
This comes as a US court has indicted Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and several other officials for allegedly bribing Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts.
The indictment claims that Adani paid over ₹2,000 crore in bribes, including ₹1,750 crore to a senior official in the Andhra Pradesh government. The Adani group is also accused of hiding information regarding an FBI investigation from Indian financial institutions and investors.
Here is Adani Group CFO Jugeshinder Robbie Singh’s full statement shared on X
Hi All, you would have seen a lot of news in the last 2 days re @AdaniOnline matters. This specifically relates to one contract of #adanigreen which is roughly 10% of overall business of Adani Green (there is a lot more precise and comprehensive detail of this which we will elaborate in an appropriate forum).
1. We became aware of the “specificity” of this 2 days ago. We were aware that something is afoot ( and in Feb 2024 144a offering circular in Risk Factors we disclosed as such. This was first public issuance, of any of our portfolio companies or their subsidiaries or JV companies after our annual results of 31st March 2023)
2. @AdaniOnline has a portfolio of 11 public companies and none are subject to indictment ( ie defendants in any legal proceedings in the recent #DOJ lawyer filings to a court in NYC)
3. None of the issuers ( ie companies in our portfolio or specific issuers that are subsidiaries of the public companies) are accused of any wrongdoing in the said legal filing.
4. There is a lot of news and reports that will try to pick unrelated items and create a headline. My humble request is that we will respond in fullness of time once we review in detail the matter as presented in the legal filing.
(Please note that no court has ruled on this and as outlined by lawyers of #DOJ these are “allegations and accused have presumption of innocence”). We will make a more detailed comment once we get counsel approvals to discuss what we can in public on matter that is sub-judice. Thank you
The statement comes two days after Gautam Adani was charged by US prosecutors over his role in an alleged years-long scheme to pay $265 million (about ₹2,200 crore) bribes to Indian officials to secure solar energy contracts. However, the conglomerate has denied the allegations, calling them baseless, and announced plans to seek legal recourse.
Hi All,
You would have seen a lot of news in the last 2 days re @AdaniOnline matters. This specifically relates to one contract of #adanigreen which is roughly 10% of overall business of Adani Green(there is a lot more precise & comprehensive detail of this which we will…
— Jugeshinder Robbie Singh (@jugeshinder) November 23, 2024
It must be noted that the disclosure being claimed by the CFO in the latest statement was actually made in the US and no disclosure was made on the Indian exchanges.
Also Read: SEBI investigating whether Adani flouted disclosure rules
However, Adani did respond to a media report on a potential probe by the US Justice Department to the Indian stock exchanges. The company has blamed a “third party” and denied any knowledge of any of its personnel having any exposure to the said “third party.”
According to the US indictment, Adani’s nephew Sagar Adani’s electronic devices were seized on March 17, 2023. This was one year before Adani made the disclosure to Indian exchanges saying none of its personnel linked to the investigation in the US.
Also Read: Adani Group faces potential US market restrictions amid indictment, says expert
The latest developments also show the timeline of this probe nearly coincides with the Hindenburg aftermath and Supreme Court proceedings. The Hindenberg case was largely restricted to charges raised by the US-based short-seller about alleged stock manipulation, related party transactions and charges of stock manipulation.
Also Read: Gautam Adani’s net worth shrinks to less than half from the peak
