“All possible means of legal protection will be applied,” the statement said.
Shares in Adani Enterprises, the group’s parent firm, fell 22% on Thursday. Other companies of the group also closed in the red. Adani Green Energy, the company at the center of the allegations, said it would not offer the $600 million bond.
The conglomerate has been in the cloud since 2023, when American short seller Hindenburg Research published a report accusing him of decades of “brazen” stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
The claims, which Mr Adani denied, sparked a major sell-off in the market and an investigation by India’s Securities and Exchange Commission of India (Sebi).
Later also Hindenburg accused Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch has links to offshore funds used by the Adani group – both Ms Buch and the group deny this.
But the US indictment is one of the biggest challenges the group has faced. In addition to Mr. Adani, there are seven other defendants, including his nephew.
Reports of a bribery investigation at the company have been circulating for months.
Prosecutors said the U.S. began investigating the company in 2022 and found that the investigation had been obstructed.
They allege the executives raised $3 billion in loans and bonds, including from U.S. firms, based on false and misleading statements related to the firm’s anti-bribery practices and policies and reports of bribery investigations.
“The defendants are alleged to have orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to obtain billions of dollars in contracts and … lied about the bribery scheme in an attempt to attract capital from US and international investors,” US Attorney Breon Peace said. statement announcing the accusation.
“My office is committed to rooting out corruption in the international marketplace and protecting investors from those who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets,” he added.
According to officials, Mr. Adani had several personal meetings with government officials to promote the bribery scheme.
US Attorney positions in the United States are appointed by the President. The filing comes weeks after Donald Trump won the White House on a promise to overhaul the US Justice Department.
After Trump’s victory, Mr. Adani congratulated him on social media and last week pledged to invest $10 billion in the United States.
