Adani Group Stocks Fall Sharply as US SEC Moves to Summon Gautam Adani in Fraud Case
Shares of Adani Group companies fell sharply—between 5% and 13% on Friday—after a court filing revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing to issue summons to founder Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani in connection with bribery and fraud allegations.
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group and one of the world’s richest individuals, was charged in November 2024 in a New York federal court along with seven others in a major bribery and fraud case.
According to the court filing, the SEC has approached U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn seeking permission to issue a legal summons to Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, Executive Director of Adani Green Energy. CNBC said it has reached out to both the Adani Group and the U.S. SEC for comments.
Shares of Adani Green Energy closed nearly 14% lower, while the group’s flagship company Adani Enterprises, ended the day down 10.7%. Adani Power shares fell 5.7%.
Adani Group executives have been accused of misleading U.S. and international investors about their compliance with the company’s anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies while raising more than $3 billion to finance energy contracts.
The SEC told the court that India’s Ministry of Law and Justice had twice refused last year to serve a summons to Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani under the Hague Convention. The filing stated that the ministry suggested the SEC does not have the authority to invoke the Hague Convention or carry out the service of summons.
Adani and several other accused individuals are alleged to have paid more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy supply contracts expected to generate profits of over $2 billion.
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