Friday, February 14th, 2025

Bribery in the country and raids in America! Know what happened in Adani case, date by date

New Delhi: The allegations of corruption in America against Gautam Adani’s group companies have created an uproar here in India. The company is accused of paying bribes for power projects. This matter is from 2019 to 2020. American investigative agencies have started investigating this matter. Adani Group is accused of paying bribe to Azure Power. In return, Adani Group got the contract to buy power from SECIL at a higher price. This entire matter came to light in March 2023. It is important to remember that the charges in an indictment are merely allegations, and a person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Well, let’s see the complete timeline of the alleged Adani bribery case…

Between December 2019 to July 2020

➤ Azure Power and Adani Green Power won contracts for large solar power projects from Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a government company.

➤ Azure Power was to sell 4 gigawatt power to Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), from which it was expected to make a profit of about Rs 14 thousand crore in 20 years.

➤ At the same time, Adani Green Power was to supply 8 gigawatt electricity.

➤ SECI had to find electricity companies (discoms) of state governments to buy this electricity. But due to high electricity prices they were facing difficulty in finding buyers.

➤ Reportedly, this is why the game of bribery started.

➤ On March 5, 2021, four companies of Adani Group took a loan of about Rs 10 thousand crore. It is alleged that he/she gave false information about anti-bribery policies while taking the loan.

➤ Between August 7, 2021 and November 20, 2021, Gautam Adani met an Andhra Pradesh government official.

➤ This meeting was to sign the Power Purchase Agreement (PSA) between SECI and the state government.

➤ It is alleged that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vineet Jain offered bribes worth Rs 2,029 crore to government officials.

➤ Out of this, there was talk of giving Rs 1,750 crore to Foreign Officer 1 (Official of Andhra Pradesh) for the settlement.

➤ From July 2021 to February 2022, discoms of Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh also signed power purchase agreements with SECI.

➤ On September 8, 2021, Adani Group issued bonds worth Rs 5,600 crore in the US.

In December 2021, the Andhra Pradesh government agreed to buy 7 gigawatts of solar power.

➤ Vineet Jain shows a photograph of Azure CEO Ranjit Gupta and a senior executive (co-conspirator 2) before a meeting with Gautam Adani on April 25, 2022.

➤ It was shown in this picture that Azure owed Adani Green a debt of Rs 638 crore, which was the bribe money given to get the agreement.

➤ On April 26, 2022, Azure Power asked Gupta and co-conspirator 2 to resign.

➤ This decision was made public.

➤ On April 29, 2022, Cyril Cabens and Saurabh Aggarwal of CDPQ, a company that invested in Azure, told Rupesh and the non-executive chairman of Azure (co-conspirator 1) to meet Adani and Jain in Ahmedabad.

➤ This meeting was organized at the behest of Gautam Adani, because he/she wanted to meet the new leadership of Azure.

Issues discussed in the meeting

1. How the bribery was committed, and how it was approved by a Canadian investor.

2. Azure had a debt of Rs 25 lakh per MW to acquire the deal for about 3 GW.

3. What steps did Gautam Adani personally take to pay the bribe?

➤ After this, the Azure team discussed how to repay the money to Adani.

➤ Another meeting was held in Ahmedabad on June 14, 2022. In this meeting, ‘Co-conspirator 1’ said that Azure will return the 2.3 GW contract to SECI.

➤ It was agreed that Adani or its subsidiary company would get this project.

➤ Azure also agreed to pay its share of the bribe for the 650 MW agreement.

➤ On November 22, 2022, Azure’s board approved the plan to withdraw from the 2.3 GW contract with SECI.

➤ However, the board was kept in the dark about the bribes.

➤ On March 17, 2023, the US intelligence agency FBI seized Sagar Adani’s electronic devices with a search warrant.

➤ Even after a year, he/she denied any bribery investigation.

➤ On December 5, 2023, five companies of Adani Group took a loan of about Rs 10,900 crore.

➤ On March 12, 2024, three Adani Group companies raised Rs 3,270 crore through bonds.

➤ On March 18, 2024, Gautam Adani emailed himself every page of the search warrant.

➤ On March 18, 2024, SECI wrote to Azure and Adani regarding reallocation of 2.3 GW PPA.

➤ On March 28, 2024, Azure withdrew itself from the 650 MW PPA.

What does the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) say?

➤ Gautam and Sagar Adani are accused of bribery. he/she is accused of ‘giving or promising to give bribes worth crores of rupees to Indian government officials’.

➤ This bribe was given to get government contracts to buy electricity at higher prices than the market, which would have benefited Adani Green and Azure Power.

➤ he/she is also accused of violating anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.

➤ Cyril Cabance, former board member of Azure Power, has been charged with violations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

➤ Cabance is accused of helping in getting the bribe approved by playing his/her role in the ‘bribery scam’.

➤ Cabanes allegedly approved bribes to advance these projects while in the US and abroad.

The US Justice Department has filed five cases for prosecution

1. Conspiracy to Violate the FCPA.

2. Securities fraud conspiracy.

3. Conspiracy of wire fraud.

4. Securities fraud related to the issuance of 144 bonds of 2021.

5. Conspiracy to obstruct legal process.

We will continue to vigorously investigate and hold accountable those individuals, including senior corporate officers and directors, when they violate our securities laws.

Sanjay Wadhwa, Acting Director, Enforcement Department, SEC

What is the relation with Indian investigation?

Sanjay Wadhwa, Acting Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, started as a staff attorney in 2003. Prior to this, he/she worked as a tax associate. he/she holds a BBA from Florida Atlantic University, and also attended South Texas College of Law, Houston and New York University School of Law.

The crimes were allegedly committed by senior officers and directors to obtain and finance large-scale state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of American investors. The Criminal Division will continue to pursue aggressively against corrupt, deceptive, and obstructive conduct that violates U.S. law, wherever it occurs in the world.

Deputy Assistant to the Attorney General Lisa Miller

Tejal D Shah is Associate Regional Director in the SEC’s Enforcement Division. She is at the forefront of the investigation as the head of the New York-based SEC. Prior to this, she was Senior Special Counsel to the Director of Enforcement at the SEC. Before joining the regulator, she was a lawyer. he/she studied at New York University and Cornell University.

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