Adani CFO denies U.S. bribery allegations, says accused will respond within 10 days
Mumbai: Dismissing allegations of a $265 million bribery scheme by U.S. authorities against the Adani Group's executives, including Chairman Gautam Adani,conglomerate's Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder Singh Friday stated that the individuals implicated would respond to the claims within 10 days, Reuters reported.
"We reject all of this strongly on behalf of the individuals," Singh said at an event in Mumbai, according to Reuters.
"We believe it is not warranted; we know for sure 100% that nothing of this sort happened. If we were paying that amount of cash to someone, I would certainly know, so we know nothing happened."
U.S. authorities have accused Gautam Adani, his nephew and executive director Sagar Adani, and Adani Green's managing director Vneet S. Jaain of orchestrating bribes to secure Indian solar power contracts and misleading U.S. investors during fundraising.
Adani Group has previously labeled the charges as "baseless" and pledged to pursue "all possible legal recourse."
Singh reiterated that while the group itself would not take any action regarding the indictment, the individuals named would address the allegations.
The indictment has triggered significant fallout: Adani Group shares plunged last week, one Indian state announced a review of its power deal with the conglomerate, political debates disrupted Indian Parliament, and TotalEnergies decided to halt further investments in the group.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs, providing the government's first official reaction, characterized the allegations as a legal matter involving private companies and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The ministry stated that it has not received any formal communication from Washington regarding the case.