US bribery case: Is Jagan the 'high-ranking official from Andhra' who met Adani?

The complaint filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission against defendants Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani said Gautam Adani had met the then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and offered a bribe.

Hyderabad: Though the US court's indictment order had mentioned a foreign official #1—a high-ranking official of Andhra Pradesh to Gautam Adani offered a bribe—it didn't reveal the name.

But a complaint filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission against defendants Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani said Gautam Adani had met the then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and offered a bribe.

“In August 2021, Gautam Adani met personally with the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh about the fact that Andhra Pradesh had not entered into a Power Supply Agreement with SECI and the "incentives" needed to cause Andhra Pradesh to do so. At or in connection with that meeting, Gautam Adani paid or promised a bribe to Andhra Pradesh government officials to cause the relevant Andhra Pradesh government entities to enter into Power Supply Agreements with SECI for the purchase of 7,000 MW of power capacity," read the complaint by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

"The bribe to Andhra Pradesh for this Power Supply Agreement—which was significantly larger than the Odisha Power Supply Agreement—was greater than that paid to the Odisha government officials by orders of magnitude. Later statements by Adani Green executives to executives of Azure, in paragraphs 131 to 135, indicated that the Andhra Pradesh bribe payment was approximately $200 million. This was also consistent with Adani Green's internal records,” the complaint added.

The complaint further read that shortly after Gautam Adani's meeting with Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister, and the payment or promise to pay bribes, communications internal to Adani Green and Azure reflected that Andhra Pradesh had agreed to buy power from SECI.

Around the same time, Andhra Pradesh agreed in principle to execute a Power Supply Agreement with SECI that would directly benefit Adani Green and Azure. And, within weeks, the Andhra Pradesh government was publicly quoted as saying, "In the Cabinet meeting held last month, it was decided to accept SECI's offer. After deliberation, the State decided to tap 7,000 MW in the first phase." In other words, the bribes paid or promised worked. Gautam Adani, with Sagar Adani's assistance, ultimately paid or promised bribes to government officials in numerous Indian states worth hundreds of millions of dollars to cause those state governments and their officials to enter into power supply agreements with SECI. Adani Green's internal records documented these payments or promises,” added the complaint.