HONGKONG: Shares in Indian conglomerate Adani tanked on Thursday after its industrialist owner Gautam Adani was charged by US prosecutors with handing out more than $250 million in bribes for key contracts.
Several listed subsidiaries of the Adani empire, which spans coal, airports, cement and media, collapsed in early trade, with some losing as much as 20 percent.
The charges are another blow to the firm, which was sent reeling last year when a bombshell report from US investment firm Hindenburg Research claimed the conglomerate had engaged in a “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades”.
Flagship firm Adani Enterprises dived 10 percent, while Adani Energy tanked 20 percent and Adani Ports dropped 10 percent.
However, Mumbai’s Sensex index saw more limited losses, giving up around 0.7 percent.
