Adani group stocks plunge as U.S. SEC looks to question founder over fraud charges

Shares of Adani Group companies fell between 5 to 13% on Friday as court filings showed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking to send summons to founder Gautam Adani and nephew Sagar Adani on charges of bribery and fraud.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, chair of India’s Adani Group and one of the world’s richest people, was indicted with seven other men in New York federal court in November 2024 on charges related to a massive bribery and fraud scheme.

The SEC has approached a U.S. District Judge, Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn, seeking permission to issue a legal summons to Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and the executive director of Adani Green Energy, Sagar Adani, according to court filings. CNBC has reached out to Adani Group and the U.S. SEC for comment.

Shares of Adani Green Energy ended the session nearly 14% lower, while those of the flagship company Adani Enterprises closed 10.7% lower on Friday. Shares of Adani Power dropped 5.7%.

The Adani Group executives are charged with misleading U.S. and international investors about their company’s compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption practices, as they raised more than $3 billion in capital to fund those energy contracts.

India’s Ministry of Law and Justice has twice refused last year to deliver the summons to Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani under the Hague Convention, the SEC told the court. “The Ministry appeared to suggest that the SEC lacks authority to invoke the Hague Convention or seek service of the Summonses,” it said.

Adani and several other defendants are accused of having paid Indian government officials more than $250 million in bribes to obtain solar energy supply contracts worth more than $2 billion in profits.