The White House said it was aware of the allegations against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, who was indicted in New York for his role in an alleged multi-billion dollar bribery and fraud scheme.
Gautam Adani, Chairman of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, addresses a gathering during the opening session of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 in Gandhinagar. (AFP)
U.S. prosecutors said Gautam Adani and seven other defendants, including his cousin Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to generate $2 billion in profits over 20 years, and to To develop India’s largest solar power plant project. .
Adani Group denied the allegations as “baseless”, while Indian government officials have not commented so far.
During a media briefing on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the administration is aware of the charges against Adani.
Asserting that the India-US relationship is built on a strong foundation, the White House spokesperson has expressed confidence that the US can tackle the ongoing crisis surrounding the bribery allegations against Gautam Adani.
“It is clear that we are aware of these allegations, and I would refer you to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and DOJ (Department of Justice) regarding the details of these allegations against the Adani Group,” Karine Jean -Pierre said.
“What I want to say is about the US-India relationship. We believe it rests on an extremely strong foundation, anchored in the bonds between our people and cooperation on a range of global issues,” Jean-Pierre added.
Advocating strong ties between India and the US, the White House Press Secretary said, “What we believe and what we have confidence in is that we will continue to navigate this issue just as we have done with other issues that may have emerged, as you have just indicated. And so the details of this, this is something that the SEC and DOJ can speak to directly, but again, we believe that … this relationship between the two nations is built on a strong foundation.
Baseless allegations: Adani Group
On Thursday, Adani Group called US allegations that its billionaire founder Gautam Adani paid more than $250 million in bribes “baseless” as the opposition leader demanded the tycoon’s arrest.
The firm denial came after shares in the Mumbai-based industrialist’s conglomerate plunged more than 23 percent, the morning after a bombshell indictment in New York accused him of deliberately misleading international investors.
“The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against the directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” the conglomerate said in a statement.
“All possible legal action will be taken,” it added.
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi said the businessmen should be taken into custody.
“We demand that Adani be arrested immediately. But we know that won’t happen because Modi is protecting him,” Rahul Gandhi told reporters in New Delhi.
“Modi cannot act even if he wants to because he is controlled by Adani,” the Congressman alleged.
The BJP, on the other hand, denounced Rahul Gandhi’s attack on Prime Minister Modi as part of its long-standing efforts to attack its leader, noting that none of the four states cited by US courts had a BJP government.
“The law will follow its own course,” said BJP spokesperson and MP Sambit Patra.
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