India’s opposition protests against billionaire facing US bribery and fraud charges

NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of supporters of India’s main opposition party protested on Monday against billionaire Gautam Adani, who was recently indicted in the U.S. for alleged fraud and bribery, and accused the government of protecting the Indian coal magnate whose companies’ shares have plunged since the charges last week.

Activists belonging to the Congress party demonstrated near Parliament in New Delhi to demand the immediate arrest of Adani, who is seen as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Some held up placards reading “Modi and Adani are one” and “Modi’s friendship is costing the nation.” Several were detained by police.

Also on Monday, opposition parties attempted to raise the Adani allegations in Parliament, but the session was adjourned over disruptions. They called for a joint committee to investigate his companies, which include agriculture, renewable energy, coal and infrastructure.

Adani, 62, one of Asia’s richest men, was thrust into the spotlight last week when U.S. prosecutors in New York charged him and seven of his associates with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, alleging that Adani duped investors in a massive solar project in India by concealing that it was being facilitated by bribes.

The indictment outlines an alleged scheme to pay about $265 million in bribes to government officials in India.

The government has not officially commented on the charges, which the Adani group has denied as baseless. On Saturday, the group’s CFO said the indictment was linked to one contract of Adani Green, its renewable energy arm, that comprised 10% of its business, adding that none of the group’s other companies was accused of wrongdoing.

Ishita Sadha, part of the Congress party’s youth wing, said the allegations were embarrassing for India. “Modi is keeping Adani safe,” she said.

After the indictment was unsealed last week, the Congress party’s Rahul Gandhi said the Modi government was protecting Adani and that the billionaire wouldn’t be arrested or investigated. “The prime minister’s credibility has been destroyed. The entire country knows they (Adani and Modi) are one. We will expose the entire network,” Gandhi told reporters.

The main opposition bloc, called INDIA, led by the Congress party, has repeatedly called for investigations into Adani. They have hit out at the tycoon and his perceived links to the government since a U.S.-based short-selling firm released a report last year accusing the billionaire’s companies of stock price manipulation and fraud.

Adani denied those claims too, but the report triggered the selling of his companies’ stock and an ongoing investigation by the country’s market regulator. Market analysts say Adani had just about recovered from the shock from the report when the charges were announced, making it the biggest test yet for the beleaguered billionaire. A day after the indictment, his companies’ stocks plunged up to 20%.

Adani’s imprint across India’s economy runs deep. His group is the country’s largest operator of coal mines and largest infrastructure developer, operating several ports and airports, and employs tens of thousands of people. Despite his fossil fuel roots, Adani has ambitions to become the world’s largest player in renewable energy by 2030.

Analysts say a key factor in his meteoric rise over the years has been his knack for aligning his group’s priorities with those of the Modi government. His critics accuse him of crony capitalism and of gaining preferential treatment from the government, including in winning contracts, which the group has denied.