Adani bribery case: White House confident it can navigate ongoing crisis over charges against Gautam Adani

The White House expressed on Thursday (Nov 21) expressed confidence that it could navigate the ongoing crisis surrounding bribery charges against Indian industrialist Gautam Adani.

At the daily news conference, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the administration was aware of the charges against Adani.

“Obviously, we’re aware of these allegations, and I would have to refer you to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and DOJ (Department of Justice) about the specifics of those allegations against the Adani Group,” Jean-Pierre said.

What we believe and we’re confident about is that we’ll continue to navigate this issue as we have with other issues that may have come up as you just stated. And so the specifics of this, this is something that the SEC and DOJ can speak to directly, but again, we believe that this relationship between India and the US has been built on a strong foundation,” she added. 

American authorities said that Gautam Adani, and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years and develop India’s largest solar power plant project.

Prosecutors also said the Adanis and another executive at Adani Green Energy, former CEO Vneet Jaain, raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds by hiding their corruption from lenders and investors.

A report by the news agency Reuters said that Gautam, Sagar, and Jaain were charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, and the Adanis were also charged in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil case.

The other five defendants were charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a US anti-bribery law, and four were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice.

In a statement, the Adani Group said on Thursday the allegations made by the United States (US) Department of Justice and Exchange Commission against the Directors of Adani Green were “baseless and denied.”

Also watch | Kenya cancels two projects with Adani Group amid bribery case

The Adani Group said that as stated by the US Department of Justice itself, “the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.” All possible legal recourse will be sought…”

“The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance,” the statement added.