Ad. bribery case: Kenyan President William Ruto, while addressing the nation, has announced the cancellation of all contracts with Indian company Ad. Group. Major projects like power transmission and airport sector were included under this contract. The Kenyan government has canceled a $700 million power transmission deal with Ad. Group. This deal was about creating infrastructure for electricity transmission in the country. Apart from this, Ad. Group’s $1.8 billion deal for an international airport site has also been cancelled.
What led to the allegations of bribery?
Ad. Group has recently faced serious allegations of bribery in America. After these allegations, the Kenya government has taken this step. President Ruto said, ‘His government works on the principles of transparency and honesty and will not approve agreements that are against the country’s image and interests.
President Ruto’s statement
President Ruto said in his speech, ‘We will not accept any agreement that is against our country’s policies and values.’ It will be interesting to see what impact this decision of the Kenyan government will have on the country’s development plans. Now all eyes are on Ad. Group’s response and the Kenyan government’s next step.
Highlights of the indictment presented in the US court
– Between 2020 and 2024, Ad. agreed to pay $250 million in bribes to officials to obtain solar power contracts from the Indian government. Then met an Indian officer. Sagar Ad. and Vineet held a meeting for the plan.
Later, to recover bribe, Ad. raised a fund of three billion dollars from American investors in the name of Ad. Green Energy Limited Contract.
– Later also tried to stop the investigation of FBI and US Securities and Exchange Commission. Emails, messages and analytics related to the plan were deleted.
– In short, Ad. had promised to pay bribes worth billions of rupees to Indian officials to get the contract in the solar power project. Later he raised funds by lying to investors in America. The latter also tried to obstruct the investigation.
