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US SEC seeks Indian govt’s help in $250 million Adani bribery probe
The US SEC told a New York district court on Wednesday that as the Adanis are based out of India, the regulator had sought help from India's law ministry to serve its complaint to the Ahmedabad-based business tycoon.
Bengaluru: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sought the Indian government’s assistance in the US market regulator’s investigation of billionaire Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar and their role in allegedly paying more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to obtain lucrative solar-energy contracts.
The SEC told a New York district court on Tuesday that as the Adanis are based out of India, the regulator had sought help from India’s law ministry to serve its complaint to the Ahmedabad-based business tycoon.
“Defendants are located in India, and the SEC’s efforts to serve them there are ongoing, including through a request for assistance to the Indian authorities to effect service under the Hague Service Convention for Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters,” SEC’s counsel Christopher M. Colorado wrote in a letter, dated 18 January.
“Additionally, under Article 5(a) of the Hague Service Convention, the SEC has requested assistance from India’s Ministry of Law and Justice, the Central Authority for India under the Hague Service Convention,” said Colorado in his letter to the judge.
Emails sent to the Adani group and India’s ministry of law and justice seeking comment went unanswered.
The Hague Convention, which includes 90 countries, including India and the US, allows legal documents from foreign law agencies to be delivered to a citizen of another country through a nodal body.
“The SEC’s decision to invoke the Hague Service Convention to serve legal documents highlights the seriousness of this enforcement action, as such measures are typically reserved for significant cross-border cases,” said Kunal Sharma, a partner at Singhania & Co., a Delhi-based law firm.
On 20 November, federal prosecutors in New York indicted a total of eight individuals for allegedly paying more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to obtain lucrative solar-energy contracts. According to the indictment, Adani Green Energy Ltd raised $2 billion from American and foreign investors based on false and misleading statements about the firm's anti-corruption and anti-bribery efforts. For this reason, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) opened a criminal investigation, while the SEC is pursuing a civil investigation against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Adani Green Energy chief executive Vneet Jaain.
The SEC’s case is if Adani broke the US Securities Act when Adani Green raised money from American investors as it did not disclose a justice department probe into allegations of bribes paid by the company’s directors to unnamed Indian officials between 2020 and 2024.
The Indian conglomerate has denied the allegations by the DoJ and the SEC, describing the allegations against its directors as “baseless.”
“All possible legal recourse will be sought,” said a spokesperson for the Adani group in the past. “The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations. We assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organisation fully compliant with all laws.”
Since being charged by the DoJ and the SEC in November, the Adani group, comprised of 11 public companies, has faced new challenges to its global ambitions. Kenya has cancelled Adani’s proposed deals worth $2.6 billion, which included expanding an airport and investing in electricity. French oil giant TotalEnergies, which has invested $3.85 billion in Adani group companies since 2019, decided not to make new investments in the group until the allegations are clarified.
In December, Adani chose to opt out of a $500 million loan with the US International Development Finance Corporation to finance a port terminal project in Colombo, saying it would fund the project internally.
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Business NewsNewsUS SEC seeks Indian govt’s help in $250 million Adani bribery probe
First Published:19 Feb 2025, 08:36 AM IST
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