Gautam Adani, a billionaire, is facing charges in New York for fraud and bribery.

• Gautam Adani and other defendants were indicted in New York federal court for an alleged multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme.
• One of the world's richest people is the billionaire who chairs India's Adani Group conglomerate.
• The Indian government has accused Adani and other defendants of agreeing to pay more than $250 million in bribes to obtain solar energy supply contracts.
• The allegation in the indictment is that Adani and others deceived U.S. investors about the financing of solar energy contracts.

Gautam Adani, the head of India's Adani Group and one of the world's wealthiest individuals, was charged in New York with others for a suspected multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme, officials announced on Wednesday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn accused Adani, 62, and seven other defendants of conspiring to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials in exchange for solar energy supply contracts.

Over two decades, the contracts were estimated to bring in more than $2 billion in post-tax profits.

Prosecutors claimed that Adani, the second wealthiest person in Asia, had in-person meetings with an Indian government official as part of a bribery scheme that lasted from 2020 to 2024.

Adani and two other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, who are executives of Adani Green Energy Limited, are accused of conspiring to mislead U.S. and international investors about their company's compliance with anti-bribery and corruption practices as they sought to raise capital from those investors.

The Indian government energy supply contracts were funded by Adani Green Energy, which raised more than $2 billion from lender groups comprised of American investors and international lenders. Additionally, the company raised more than $1 billion in two bond offerings underwritten by international financial institutions that were marketed and sold in the United States and elsewhere, prosecutors said.

On Wednesday, a five-count indictment was unsealed, accusing Ranjit Gupta, Rupash Agarwal, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with the bribery scheme by Adani.

Saurabh Agarwal, Malhotra, and Rupash Agarwal, in addition to Cabanes, are charged with conspiring to impede criminal and Securities and Exchange Commission probes into the bribery scheme.

This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.