Adani Green Energy Limited has announced its decision to halt the proposed issuance of $600 million-denominated bond offerings following charges filed by US prosecutors against its chairman, Gautam Adani, and other executives, in connection with an alleged bribery scheme.

In an exchange filing on Thursday, the company stated, "The United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission have issued a criminal indictment and brought a civil complaint, respectively, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, against our Board members, Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani. The United States Department of Justice has also included our Board member, Vneet Jaain, in such criminal indictment. In light of these developments, our subsidiaries have presently decided not to proceed with the proposed USD denominated bond offerings."

The charges stem from allegations that Gautam Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain conspired to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and other offenses related to raising funds based on false and misleading statements. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, "A five-count criminal indictment was unsealed in federal court charging Gautam Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain, with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from U.S. investors and global financial institutions on the basis of false and misleading statements."

The indictment also implicates former executives Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal of a renewable energy company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of a Canadian institutional investor, for conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

US Attorney Breon Peace described the allegations, stating, "As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars, and Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from US and international investors."

FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Dennehy added, "The business executives allegedly bribed the Indian government to finance lucrative contracts designed to benefit their businesses. Adani and other defendants also defrauded investors by raising capital on the basis of false statements about bribery and corruption, while still other defendants allegedly attempted to conceal the bribery conspiracy by obstructing the government's investigation."

The indictment further accuses the executives of obstructing investigations conducted by the FBI, Department of Justice (DOJ), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The charges, however, remain allegations at this stage, with the defendants presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The US government’s case is being handled by the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, along with the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The investigation was conducted by the FBI New York's Corporate, Securities, and Commodities Fraud and International Corruption Units.

Adani Green Energy’s decision to postpone its bond offering marks the company’s first significant move following the charges, as it navigates the fallout from the allegations against its leadership.