Just after President William Ruto cancelled the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) takeover, an arrest warrant has been issued in the United States (US) for billionaire Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani.
A US federal court has issued an arrest warrant for the billionaire after he was charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with allegedly defrauding investors and bribing officials.
The 62-year-old Adani Group boss faces the allegations alongside his nephew and six others in connection to one of the world’s largest solar projects.
Notably, the news has come moments after President William Ruto stopped major Adani deals with the Kenyan government.
Ruto in his State of the Nation Address, stopped with immediate effect the takeover of an ongoing Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the government and the Adani Group over the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO).
Also Read: Ruto Stops JKIA Adani Takeover
Adani’s Case in The US Leading to Arrest Warrant
A grand jury in New York indicted the business tycoon and his co-accused on charges of bribery amounting to over $250 million (approximately Ksh32.4 billion) on Wednesday, November 20.
According to US officials, the bribes were given to Indian government officials, while concealing these payments from investors.
Further, an investigation conducted by the FBI noted that Adani and the others agreed to bribe Indian government officials to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts.
“This indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250m in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa Miller.
“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,” added FBI Assistant Director James Dennehy.
Also Read: Adani Breaks Silence Over Charges of Bribery
The Adani- Kenya Deal
The Adani Group had proposed a Ksh260 billion deal to modernize JKIA over 30 years and a Ksh.95 billion project to enhance the country’s transmission lines, both under the PPP model.
However, Ruto stated that the cancellation was based on new information provided by Kenya’s investigative agencies and partner nations.
“The procuring agencies within the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for the JKIA Expansion Public Private Partnership transaction, as well as the recently concluded KETRACO transmission line Public Private Partnership contract, and immediately commence the process of onboarding alternative partners,” said Ruto.
However, earlier the Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi defended the Kenya-Adani partnership, stating there was no evidence of impropriety tied to the local projects.
While addressing the Parliamentary Energy Committee on Thursday, Wandayi said that the contracting authority conducted rigorous due diligence in line with the law.
Adani has since stated that the allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied.
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