Timing of US indictment against Adani group raises questions amid geopolitical shifts

Breon Peace, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York who unsealed the indictment, is likely to end his tenure with President Biden’s.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

The indictment unsealed on 20 November against businessman Gautam Adani's group and other individuals by the United States Attorney's Office has come under questioning over the timing of its release, which comes even as the present political dispensation led by President Joe Biden was at most a caretaker government and is in the last 60 days of it being in power after being defeated in the elections.

Breon Peace, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) who unsealed the indictment, is likely to end his tenure with President Biden's. US attorneys, including Peace, are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, serving at the President's pleasure. Peace was appointed by Biden and confirmed in 2021 Significantly, this is the first enforcement action by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against an individual since October 2020 under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The FCPA is a US law that prohibits companies and individuals from engaging in bribery or corrupt practices with foreign officials to gain business advantages.

What adds layers of complexity to this situation is that, in addition to causing a Rs 22 billion loss in Adani Group's share value and the termination of two Adani contracts by the Kenyan government, the Department of Justice's (DoJ's) own submission reveals that the alleged bribery scheme took place between 2020 and 2024-a period that coincided with the Biden presidency. Despite this, the DoJ chose to make the proceedings public only now, just days after Gautam Adani announced his intention to invest $10 billion in US energy security and resilient infrastructure, potentially creating up to 15,000 jobs that could benefit the incoming Donald Trump administration. After this indictment, the chances of the business conglomerate operating in the US in the near future are extremely remote.