Hindenburg to bribery allegations: Gautam Adani’s increasing difficulties

The Gautam Adani ‘bribery’ case gains a new lead as Adani Group refuted the involvement of Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vineet Jain in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) charges, calling them “incorrect” under the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the SEC indictments, according to an official statement on November 27.

“Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vineet Jain have not been charged with any violation of the FCPA in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US DOJ or civil complaint of the US SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission),” according to Adani Green Energy's exchange filing on Wednesday. 

The company also said that these directors have been charged with three counts in the criminal indictment: alleged securities fraud conspiracy, alleged wire fraud conspiracy, and alleged securities fraud.

Take a look at what happened with the Adani Group:  

October 2021: Adani Ports ditched its plans to build a container terminal in Myanmar after rights groups reported the company would be leasing the land for the project from a military-controlled firm under US sanctions in October 2021. The company ended up selling the project in May 2024 for $30 million, which was lower than the original $127 million investment from the conglomerate. 

December 2022: Adani Group's Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerela also faced halts in 2022. The construction was stopped for four months as fishing workers protested against the project having coastal erosion and livelihood impacts. 

The construction resumed in December 2022, as the company backed their project, citing that it complies with all laws and cited studies showing no links to shoreline erosion. 

December 2021: Australia-based Adani Mining’s flagship project, the Carmichael Mine and Rail Project, fought a seven-year-long campaign against climate activists before shipping its cargo in December 2021. 

Climate groups concerned about the emissions and damage to the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia protested the project, which led to scaring off the lenders, insurers and engineering companies. 

The mine was reduced to 10 million metric tonnes per year from the previously planned 60 million tonnes per year, as per media reports. 

January 2023: The US-based short seller Hindenburg Research released its original report on January 24, 2023, against the Adani Group, titled ‘Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History’.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, nearly $150 billion was wiped off the market value of the Adani companies within a month of the report's release.

The report alleged that the conglomerate was “engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades”.

Hindenburg also accused the Adani family members of creating offshore shell companies in tax haven countries such as Mauritius, the UAE, and the Caribbean Islands, using forged import-export documentation to show fake revenue, and laundering money from their listed public companies, as per the report. However, the conglomerate denied all the allegations. 

August 2023: The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) investigated the Adani Group and found that two Mauritius-based funds, the Emerging India Focus Fund (EIFF) and the EM Resurgent Fund (EMRF), invested and traded in the stocks of four listed Adani Group companies between 2013 and 2018, The Guardian and Financial Times reported.

Two foreign investors, Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli from the UAE and Chang Chung-Ling from Taiwan, invested nearly $430 million in March 2017. The investigation also showed that Excel Investment and Advisory Services Limited, two entities owned by Vinod Adani, a promoter in the Adani Group and Gautam Adani's brother, received more than $1.4 million in “advisory” fees from management companies of EIFF, EMRF and GOF between June 2012 and August 2014. The company denied all the charges made by the OCCRP report.

Evidence was found that Vinod Adani was handling all these front companies, through which he invested massive funds into Adani Group stocks. 

December 2023: Adani Properties received the 259-hectare Dharavi redevelopment project in November 2023. The deal has triggered protests, and Maharashtra Opposition leaders and workers led thousands of protestors to Gautam Adani’s Mumbai offices on December 16, 2023. The conglomerate also struggled to secure land to rehouse nearly 700,000 residents who would be displaced during the project.

Protestors used flags and banners bearing slogans like “Remove Adani, Save Dharavi.” They were concerned that the company would benefit from the redevelopment project rather than the people living in Asia's biggest slum.

August 2024: The second round of Hindenburg allegations came on August 10 against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. The report claimed that Buch has a conflict of interest.

It alleged that Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, owned a stake in certain offshore entities related to the Adani Group. Gautam Adani's brother Vinod Adani allegedly used those entities in an alleged money laundering scandal.

Madhabi Puri Buch and Dhaval Buch denied all the allegations made by the US-based short seller. Adani Group of companies shares took a hit again on the stock market, wiping off $2.4 billion in one trading day. The losses were less than when compared to $13 billion after the first Hindenburg report on Adani. 

September 2024: Hindenburg's third take on the Adani Group came through a social media post on platform X, citing Swiss authorities freezing $310 million of the Adani Group's funds across several Swiss bank accounts. According to the report, this was part of a money laundering investigation into the Adani Group, cited by the US-based short seller quoting local Swiss media outlet Gotham City.

“Swiss authorities have frozen more than $310 million in funds across multiple Swiss bank accounts as part of a money laundering and securities forgery investigation into Adani, dating back as early as 2021,” said Hindenburg in its post on platform X.

Once again, Adani Group denied all the allegations. 

September 2024: Adani Group's Kenya troubles emerged as the high court of Kenya temporarily blocked a proposed deal to lease the country's primary airport for 30 years in exchange for an expansion plan over allegations of unaffordability, a threat to jobs, and fiscal risks, according to media reports. 

After a month, the court suspended another $736 million deal between government-owned Kenya Electrical Transmission Company (KETRACO) and Adani Energy Solutions over an advocacy group's argument of “a constitutional sham” and “tainted with secrecy,” cited the report. 

October 2024: Adani Power cut its supply to Bangladesh as the country failed to clear its outstanding dues by October 30. Adani Power Jharkhand Limited (APJL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Power, stopped half of its power supply to the neighbouring nation over $846 million in dues. 

As per the latest development, the Bangladesh High Court has ordered the formation of a high-level enquiry committee comprising international energy and law experts to reevaluate all electricity-related agreements with the Adani group, according to local media reports on November 19. 

November 2024: On November 20, the US securities market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced that it is charging Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, among others, over an alleged massive bribery scheme. 

The US authorities claimed that more than $250 million in bribes were promised to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts. The SEC also alleged that the scheme was carried out to benefit the two companies (Adani Green Energy and Azure Power) to capitalise on a multi-billion-dollar solar energy project.

The group's flagship company, Adani Enterprises, saw its shares nosedive nearly 23 per cent, suffering massive losses and hitting their lower circuit during Thursday's market session. Chairperson Gautam Adani's net worth dropped more than $10.5 billion, or nearly ₹88,726 crore, on Thursday, November 21.

The company denied all the allegations, saying, “The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied.”