In June of 2020, a renewable energy company owned by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani won what it called the single largest solar development bid ever awarded: an agreement to supply 8 gigawatts of electricity to a state-owned power company.
But there was a problem. Local power companies did not want to pay the prices the state company was offering, jeopardizing the deal, according to U.S. authorities. To save the deal, Adani allegedly decided to bribe local officials to persuade them to buy the electricity.
That allegation is at the heart of U.S. criminal and civil charges unsealed on Wednesday against Adani, who is not currently in U.S. custody and is believed to be in India. His company, Adani Group, said the charges were “baseless” and that it would seek “all possible legal recourse.”