(Adds FBI comment paragraph 7, Adani Green statement paragraph

8)

NEW DELHI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Gautam

Adani has been indicted by U.S. prosecutors for conspiring with

executives of a formerly New York listed company to devise a

$265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials to boost their

solar energy business.

Adani and his executives have also been accused of making

false and misleading statements to investors and lenders in the

United States regarding the company's anti-bribery commitments

and practices while raising money from them.

Adani Group denied the allegations as "baseless", while

Indian government officials haven't commented so far.

Here is an overview of the investigation and allegations

revealed in the U.S. indictment:

WHAT ARE THE MAIN ALLEGATIONS?

U.S. prosecutors charged Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani

who is director at Adani Green, and six others in running an

alleged bribery scheme related to renewable energy projects in

India that benefitted the tycoon's company and India's Azure

Power, which was listed on the NYSE until late 2023.

In 2020, the indictment shows, executives of Adani Green and

Azure "knowingly and wilfully conspired" and agreed to

"corruptly" offer, authorise and pay bribes to government

officials in India to "obtain or retain business advantages".

"Gautam S. Adani and seven other business executives

allegedly bribed the Indian government to finance lucrative

contracts," said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James E.

Dennehy.

Adani Green on Nov. 27 said Gautam Adani has been charged

on three counts in the criminal indictment for alleged

securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and

securities fraud, but not the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices

Act.

Between 2021 and 2024, Adani raised more than $3 billion in

loans and bonds, including from investors in the United States.

"Gautam and Sagar Adani were engaged in the bribery scheme

during a September 2021 note offering by Adani Green that raised

$750 million, including approximately $175 million from U.S.

investors," the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said.

The Adanis earlier this year made misleading statements to

the public, the Indian stock exchange and investors despite

being made aware of the U.S. investigation in 2023, the

prosecutors alleged.

HOW WERE BRIBES TRACKED, PAID?

Sagar Adani, executive director of Adani Green and nephew of

Gautam Adani, used his mobile phone to track details of the

bribes offered to Indian officials, U.S. authorities alleged.

In a meeting between some Adani and Azure executives in

2022, Gautam Adani detailed aspects of the bribery scheme

including steps he personally took to offer money to government

officials, the U.S. authorities said.

Executives from Azure also prepared an analysis using Excel

and PowerPoint to summarise the different ways in which it could

repay Adani Green for the bribes it had paid to benefit both

companies. For one of the projects of 2.3 gigawatts of power,

the bribe was calculated at around $30,000 per megawatt.

One way discussed was to describe the payment internally at

Azure as a "development fee", but it instead used another option

of getting Azure to transfer one of its projects to Adani in

lieu of part of the payment, U.S. authorities alleged.

Azure in a statement said former officers of the company

referenced in the U.S. indictment were no longer associated with

the company, and the company continued to cooperate with U.S.

authorities.

WHAT WERE THE POWER PROJECTS IN QUESTION?

U.S. authorities called the dealings in their indictment

"The Corrupt Solar Project".

Between 2019 and 2020, Adani Green and Azure were awarded

renewable energy tenders by Solar Energy Corporation of India

(SECI), a federal government-owned entity.

U.S. authorities alleged Adani and others devised a scheme

to bribe Indian state officials to enter into agreements with

SECI, "which would benefit" Adani subsidiaries and Azure.

Adani facilities in Rajasthan and Gujarat states in India

supplied the power contracted in the Adani deals. One of those

marquee projects is the

Adani energy park in Khavda

, which the company says is the world's biggest renewable

energy project.

HOW DID U.S. FEDERAL AGENTS INVESTIGATE, SEIZE EVIDENCE?

In March 2023, FBI special agents approached Sagar Adani

with details of the grand jury's ongoing investigation into the

group and other entities. They took custody of electronic

devices in Sagar's possession and served him with a search

warrant and grand jury subpoena.

The search warrant identified offences, individuals and

entities under investigation by the U.S. for violations of the

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, securities fraud, and wire fraud.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE ADANI GROUP?

Adani Group in a statement said it would seek "all possible

legal recourse". The grand jury in its order said if any of the

executives were found guilty of the charges they would have to

forfeit any property or proceeds derived directly or indirectly

as a result of the offences.

Federal prosecutors have also issued arrest warrants for

Gautam and Sagar Adani. The U.S. Securities and Exchange

Commission has

issued summons

to Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar to answer the

allegations.

Gautam and Sagar have not been arrested and their

whereabouts are unknown, though they are believed to be in

India.