India's Gautam Adani is Unlikely to be Extradited Though US Made a Strong Case against Him

Prosecutors seemingly obtained support by documentary evidence to make a strong argument in the US fraud case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani. Nonetheless, the billionaire might not be extradited for trial in the short run.

 

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn revealed an indictment in November alleging that Adani bribed Indian officials to persuade them to purchase electricity from his Adani Group subsidiary Adani Green Energy (NS: ADNA) and misled American investors by providing information about the company's anti-corruption efforts.

 

According to the indictment, prosecutors found ledgers of alleged bribe payments on the cell phone of Gautam Adani's nephew Sagar Adani and a copy of a search warrant and grand jury subpoena emailed to himself by Gautam Adani. Experts said these documents were evidence that the Adani Group misled investors because Adani failed to disclose the investigation and insisted on using strong anti-corruption measures while paying bribes. Stephen Reynolds, a former federal prosecutor and a present partner at the law firm Day Pitney, said the empirical evidence made the case stronger.

 

In addition, Sagar Adani, and another Adani Group executive, have been charged with securities fraud and conspiracy. Five employees of Azure Power Global (OTC: AZREF ), a former US-listed company suspected of being involved in the case, have also been charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

 

Azure said it has cooperated with the investigation and that the accused individuals no longer work for the company. However, Adani Group claimed the charges were unsubstantiated and pursued possible legal remedies.

 

The potential challenges in the case are not negligible. Paul Tuchmann, a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said Gautam Adani could argue that he never drafted the anti-bribery statement.

 

Mark Cohen, a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said prosecutors might have difficulty obtaining live testimony from Indians because the Indian government would be unwilling to offer testimony that would be unfavorable to Indian officials.

 

On Friday (Dec. 13), India's foreign ministry cited a Nov. 29 statement, saying that it had not received any case requests from the US.

 

The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on whether the US had asked India to extradite Gautam Adani. Gautam Adani is not currently in custody.

 

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