Moody's says US bribery charges against Gautam Adani negative for credit rating: Report

US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani, alleging his involvement in a $250 million bribery scheme for securing solar energy contracts with the Indian government

Credit rating agency Moody’s has said the bribery charges against Gautam Adani, the chairman of Adani Group, would be seen as a credit negative for the conglomerate's companies, Money Control reported.

A Moody's sign is displayed on 7 World Trade Center, the company's corporate headquarters in New York (Reuters)

“The indictment of Adani Group's chairman and other senior officials on bribery charges is credit negative for the group’s companies,” the report quoted Moody’s as saying in a statement. “Our main focus when assessing Adani Group is on the ability of the group’s companies to access capital to meet their liquidity requirements and on its governance practices,” the agency said.

This comes as the Adani Group has found itself under legal scrutiny after US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani with being allegedly involved in a $250 million bribery scheme to secure solar energy contracts with the Indian government.

The indictment filed in Brooklyn, New York, was regarding false statements made by the group to US investors that violated federal laws. Other charges include tampering with evidence and misleading US authorities, including the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the FBI.

This entire controversy resulted in the group's global financial instruments such as the dollar-denominated bonds taking a huge hit.

Large global investors, such as GQG Partners, have announced that they are closely monitoring the situation and carefully reviewing their exposure to Adani Group companies to see if any actions are necessary, according to the report.

This comes at a time when the group had been working to reduce its debt burden, having prepaid ₹7,374 crore in share-backed financing and pledging to eliminate all loans by the end of the month.