Shares of India's Adani Enterprises plunged 20% when trading opened on Thursday after US prosecutors accused billionaire founder Gautam Adani of orchestrating a bribery scheme involving hundreds of millions of dollars, while concealing the payments from investors.
The sharp decline in Adani Enterprises mirrored significant losses in the group's other publicly listed companies, with Adani Power falling by 11% and Adani Energy Solutions dropping 20%.
Adani, a close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and once the world's second-richest individual, is alleged to have agreed to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian officials in exchange for lucrative solar energy supply contracts. These deals were expected to yield more than $2 billion in after-tax profits over the next two decades.
Despite the charges, none of the defendants, including Adani, have been taken into custody.
Adani Group's renewable energy arm, Adani Green Energy, acknowledged the allegations in a brief statement, confirming that Adani and two other board members were facing charges. The company also announced it would pause a planned bond sale "in light of these developments," but refrained from further commenting on the matter.
US Attorney Breon Peace stated that the accused trio had devised "an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars," and misled investors in their attempts to raise capital from US and international markets.