Indian billionaire Gautam Adani is preparing to challenge a civil fraud case filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with his legal team set to request its dismissal in a New York court. The case, which dates back to November 2024, accuses Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani of involvement in an bribery scheme linked to business dealings in India.
As per the SEC’s statements, both the executives had orchestrated or made promises for significant payments to officials of the Indian government to gain undue favors for Adani Green Energy, which the two of them lead. In addition, it is stated that the company has not revealed the activities concerning the bribe in the documentation associated with a $750 million bond issue that occurred last year.
At the same time, legal representatives of the Adanis deny the accusations. As per a filing presented in a federal court in New York City, they claim that there is no factual basis to believe that the executives had participated in the bribes and did not have any intentions of misleading investors and engaging in fraudulent practices during the bond issuance.
Moreover, lawyers also claim that the SEC is acting beyond its jurisdiction, as it is “impermissibly extraterritorial.” This is because all the accusations are associated with the acts that had occurred in India, whereas the bonds in question were not traded in any US exchange. Thus, the case can be dismissed, and such a motion will be filed before April 30.
Similar to the civil lawsuit, US authorities had filed a criminal case against the Adanis and other individuals back in 2024, although there have been no developments on this front since the end of that year.
Gautam Adani, who established the Adani Group, is still among the richest people in the world. On the other hand, Mukesh Ambani, CEO of Reliance Industries, is still considered the richest man in India.
Leave a comment