Republican Congressmen Lance Carter Gooden — a strong supporter of US president-elect Donald Trump — has challenged the US Department of Justice (DoJ) lawsuit against Gautam Adani and seven others for allegedly bribing state government officials in India in an effort to win solar power supply contracts from state-owned power utilities.
The DoJ, in November 20, 2024, had filed a criminal suit in the eastern district court of New York charging the Adanis with paying out $265 million in bribes to government officials in five states — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Chattisgarh.
In a letter written to US attorney general Merrick Garland, Gooden slammed DoJ for “pursuing new expeditions to target businesses for alleged injustices abroad”.
“Targeting entities who invest tens of billions of dollars and create tens of thousands of jobs for Americans only harms us in the long run,” Gooden said.
“India is one of the few reliable partners America has in the Asia-Pacific region, alongside being one of the fastest-growing and largest economies in the world. Such reckless acts of pursuit against its top industrialists could start a harmful narrative against India’s growth,” the Congressman said in his letter.
Gooden said that even if the charges were proven, “it would still fail to make us the appropriate and final arbiter on the issue”.
He said the bribes were “allegedly” paid to Indian state government officials, in India, by Indian executives of an Indian company with no concrete involvement of or injury to any American party.
While the Adani group has not yet detailed its proposed investment in the US, in November (before DoJ and the US Securities Exchange Commission announced its charges) chairman Gautam Adani had disclosed that the conglomerate will invest $10 billion in infrastructure and energy projects there.
This came after Trump won the presidential elections.
“Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump,” he had posted on X. "As the partnership between India and the United States deepens, the Adani Group is committed to leveraging its global expertise and invest $10 billion in US energy security and resilient infrastructure projects, aiming to create up to 15,000 jobs,’’ Adani said.
Observers said the group will push ahead with its plans after Donald Trump assumes office on January 20.
The bribery charges stem from a situation that arose when Adani Green Energy found itself unable to sell solar power through the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) – a government-owned company that helps develop renewable energy projects in India by parcelling out fiscal incentives and acting as a pass through for power sales to state-owned power distribution companies.
Gooden’s attack overlooks the fact that the bribery charge against the Adanis and others amount to alleged violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the US.
The Adani group has maintained that Sagar Adani, the nephew of Gautam Adani, and Vneet Jaain, CEO, Adani Green Energy, have not been accused of violating FCPA and that they have been charged under securities & wire fraud which involves levy of monetary penalties.
It remains to be seen if the incoming President relaxes FCPA. In 2012, Trump had told the CNBC that the FCPA was a "horrible law’’. However, in his first term he did not make any major dilutions to the law.
For the Adani group, the bribery charges led to apprehensions that its fund raising efforts in the overseas markets could take a hit.
The Republican from Texas was one of the 126 Congressmen who had tried unsuccessfully to challenge the outcome of the Presidential elections in 2020 when Joe Biden defeated Trump.
"Not respecting India’s authority over this matter could strain and even permanently damage our international relations with a strategically important and key economic and political ally. At this juncture, letting the Indian authorities investigate, determine any injury, and adjudicate on the matter instead of jumping to premature conclusions would be the best and only appropriate course of action,’’ Gooden added.
