The SEC's complaint against Gautam Adani links him to bribery after meeting then-Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy in 2021. The indictment, which includes Adani and seven others, accuses them of financial fraud and bribery
Published Nov 21, 2024 | 7:27 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 21, 2024 | 8:24 PM
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US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has directly pointed to former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister in its complaint against Gautam Adani.
In its complaint, which has led to the indictment of Gautam Adani and his associates for fraud and bribery, the US’ SEC has alleged that bribes were paid to officials after Adani met then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in 2021. Jagan Mohan Reddy was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh during the period.
The revelation comes on the day an order by a federal court in Brooklyn, the US, indicted Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani and seven others on charges of conspiring to commit financial fraud. The indictment also named government-owned power companies in India as part of the alleged bribery scheme. The indictment, however, has only referred to the former Chief Minister as ‘high ranking Indian official’.
In a 41-page document detailing the allegations, SEC has submitted to the US court a timeline of meetings between Adani and Indian government officials. SEC has alleged that in August 2021, Gautam Adani met personally with the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The SEC claims that the meeting was about the fact that Andhra Pradesh had not entered into a Power Supply Agreement with SECI and the “incentives” needed to cause Andhra Pradesh to do so.
“At or in connection with that meeting, Gautam Adani paid or promised a bribe to Andhra Pradesh government officials to cause the relevant Andhra Pradesh government entities to enter into Power Supply Agreements with SECI for the purchase of 7,000 MW of power capacity,” the SEC complaint said.
The SEC – akin to India’s SEBI – in its complaint insisted that the bribe to Andhra Pradesh for this Power Supply Agreement was greater than that paid to the Odisha government officials “by orders of magnitude.” It simply means that the bribe allegedly paid to Andhra Pradesh government officials was larger since the agreement was larger too.
Referring to communication between Adani Green and Azure, SEC claimed that bribe payment for Andhra Pradesh was approximately $200 million. “This was also consistent with Adani Green’s internal records,” SEC added.
Pointing to the timing of Andhra Pradesh’s agreement with SECI, the regulatory body said, “shortly after Gautam Adani’s meeting with Andhra Pradesh’s chief minister, and the payment or promise to pay bribes, communications internal to Adani Green and Azure reflected that Andhra Pradesh had agreed to buy power from SECI.”
The complaint is a scathing accusation against then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Jagan Mohan Reddy. Despite the acute rivalry against YSRCP, the incumbent Andhra Pradesh government led by Chandrababu Naidu has not commented on the case so far.
Andhra Pradesh is currently governed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) comprising Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) front. Incidentally, the BJP, that is leading the NDA government at the Centre under Narendra Modi, too has not initiated any inquiry or action based on the indictment of Gautam Adani, a billionaire businessman often referred to as having close ties with PM Modi.
