Hyderabad: The US court filing that indicted Indian billionaire Gautam Adani for allegedly masterminding a massive bribery scheme worth $265 million reveals that he offered a 'high ranking' Andhra Government official Rs 1,750 crore as a 'corrupt payment'.
The filing did not identify the official but referred to him or her as “Foreign Official #1” who, it said, served as a "high-ranking government official" from "approximately May 2019".
It said that Gautam Adani himself met the official in 2021 mentioning three different dates between August and November of that year. "The defendant Gautam S. Adani personally met with Foreign Official #1 in Andhra Pradesh to advance the execution of a PSA between SECI and Andhra Pradesh's state electricity distribution companies, including on or about August 7, 2021, on or about September 12, 2021 and on or about November 20, 2021," the filing said.
According to the court filing, the government official was offered the payment in exchange for facilitating the state’s distribution companies agreeing to purchase seven gigawatts of solar power from Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) under the manufacturing-linked project.
“In furtherance of the bribery scheme, the co-conspirators, through Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani, Vneet S Jaain and others, had offered and promised to Indian government officials approximately Rs 2,029 crore (approximately $265 million) in bribes in exchange for Indian government officials causing the state electricity distribution companies to execute power sale agreements (PSAs) under the Manufacturing Linked Project, which would benefit the Indian energy company’s (Adani Green Energy) subsidiaries and the US issuer," the filing added.
According to the it, “Co-Conspirator #1”, a UK Citizen residing in Hong Kong was the Non-Executive Chairman of the US Issuer’s and the US Issuer’s subsidiary’s boards of directors “from approximately October 2021 through October 2023.” It added that " “Co-Conspirator #2 was a citizen of India who resided in India. From approximately July 2019 through April 2022, “Co-Conspirator #2” held high-ranking executive positions at the US Issuer and the US Issuer’s subsidiary.”
"During the course of the Bribery Scheme, the co-conspirators undertook extensive efforts to corruptly persuade government officials to cause state electricity distribution companies to execute PSAs and frequently discussed those efforts amongst themselves, including through the use of an electronic messaging application," the filing added.
US prosecutors on Wednesday charged Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, with allegedly orchestrating a $265 million bribery scheme.
In an indictment unsealed by Federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday, Adani and seven others were charged with duping investors by concealing that the company's huge solar energy project was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme.
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