Adani has positioned itself as a renewable leader while ruthlessly violating regulations, manipulating the market and funneling it’s so-called green money into coal. While trust in Adani has slowly eroded, financial institutions have come back time and time again to support Adani despite the evidence of its controversy. Now, US prosectors have legitimised these claims.
Adani bonds are toxic — laden with environmental harm, human rights abuses, and serious allegations of financial misconduct. From Hindenburg’s initial findings to OCCRP’s investigations and Snowcap’s Adani Green exposé, the risks associated with Adani have been mounting for years. Now, the SEC’s indictment of Gautam Adani must is the final nail in the confin. Regulators must act to protect markets, and financial institutions must cut ties or face devastating financial and reputational risks.
Timeline of Adani’s scandals
MAY 2023: Three Adani companies removed from Science Based targets list
Adani Green Energy Ltd, Adani Transmission, and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone were removed from the UN-backed Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)
JUNE 2023: Funding into Adani Green is redirected to coal
Adani Green publishes in its annual results that it is redirecting funding, through collateralisation and related party transactions, to other Adani entities responsible for coal expansion
AUG 2023: OCCRP’s first investigation: insider trading & market manipulation
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) exposed Adani’s illegal transfer of money to shell companies to manipulate Adani’s stock price, violating India’s free float laws.
MAY 2024: OCCRP’s Second investigation: Adani overvalues coal
OCCRP releases documents published that Adani Group companies were overcharging the Indian government and citizens for imported coal resulting in inflated prices while boosting Adani’s bottom line.
MAY 2024: Snowcap report: Adani Green unable to meet renewable targets
Snowcap reported that Adani Green was committing a form of investor fraud via deceitful accounting practices, inflating earnings and lying about its ability to meet renewable energy targets.
AUG 2024: Hindenburg’s second report: SEBI’s corrupt ties to Adani
The report alleged that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), India’s regulatory body, either turned a blind eye or actively enabled Adani’s manipulation of its financial disclosures.
OCT 2024: Adani pulls $1.2 billion bond due to lack of investor interest
As evidence of financial misconduct, corruption, deception and greenwashing mounted, Adani couldn’t get enough investors interested to raise over $1 billion in capital.
NOV 2024: Gautam Adani is charged by US prosectors with multiple counts of fraud over bribery scheme
US prosecutors indicted Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, and key executives for allegedly orchestrating a bribery scheme to secure solar energy contracts in India while misleading investors to raise billions through bonds and loans. In response to the charges, which highlight violations of anti-corruption laws and accusations of fraud, Adani pulled its planned bond issuance and faced a sharp decline its market value, further tarnishing its renewable energy claims.
