The Indian giant Adani Group reported on Wednesday that it has lost about $55 billion in a stock market meltdown since its founder and other officials were charged with fraud by US authorities last week.
In a shocking indictment filed in New York on November 20, billionaire businessman Gautam Adani and several of his colleagues were charged with purposefully deceiving foreign investors as part of a bribery plot.
According to the report, they had “improved a plan to offer, authorize, make, and pledge to pay bribes to Indian government officials.”
“The group has suffered a loss of nearly $55 billion in its market capitalization across its 11 listed companies since the news of the US DoJ (Department of Justice) indictment,” the corporation, which rejects the claims, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The 62-year-old Gautam Adani is suspected of taking part in the $250 million bribery conspiracy to get profitable government contracts.
Although the Adani Group vehemently denied the accusations, calling them “baseless,” it caused a significant sell-off of Adani stocks in Mumbai last week, leading to many trade halts.
Adani officials are “only charged” with committing securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, and securities fraud, according to a statement released on Wednesday. It refutes every accusation.
It said that claiming that Gautam Adani or his nephew Sagar Adani had been accused of bribery or corruption was “incorrect.” Following the announcement, Adani Enterprises’ stock and that of its renewable energy division, Adani Green, both jumped more than 10% in Mumbai.
Adani, the former second-richest man in the world and a close supporter of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has long been accused by his detractors of unjustly profiting from their alliance.
