NEW DELHI – One of Asia’s richest men, the controversial Indian tycoon Gautam Adani, is once again in the spotlight. His company’s shares fell as much as 20% on Thursday after he was indicted by US prosecutors on charges that he defrauded investors in a massive solar project in India by concealing that it was facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme.

In an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday, Adani62, was charged with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

As a result of the US legal action, the Adani Group decided not to proceed with a proposed US dollar bond offering. Adani Renewables announced the decision in letters to the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

In a statement, the group said the allegations against the directors of Adani Green “are baseless and denied.” The US Department of Justice said that “the allegations in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”

Who is Gautam Adani?

Adani is the son of a middle-class family in Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat. He dropped out of college to become a diamond dealer in Mumbai, India’s financial capital. In the 1980s, he started importing plastics before establishing Adani Enterprises, which traded in everything from shoes to buckets and remains his flagship.

India opened up its economy in the 1990s and a new middle class emerged as tens of millions of people escaped poverty and the economy boomed, prompting Adani to invest in infrastructure and coal.

Adani’s first major project, the Mundra Port in Gujarat, opened in 1998 and is now India’s largest. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. is India’s largest private port operator. Within a decade, Adani became India’s largest developer and operator of coal mines. According to Adani Power’s website, it has expanded into Australia and Indonesia and is on track to be “one of the largest mining groups in the world.”

Adani companies, India’s second largest conglomerate, operate airports in major cities, build roads, generate electricity, manufacture defense equipment, develop agricultural drones, sell cooking oil and run a media outlet. Despite its fossil fuel roots, billionaire Adani Green aims to become the world’s largest renewable energy player by 2030.

Why is Adani controversial?

Adani is considered close to the Hindu nationalist government and the political opposition has long accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having close ties to the tycoon. They both hail from the western state of Gujarat.

The businessman’s critics say much of his success stems from his close ties to the government and Modi. For example, they have accused the government of tweaking tender rules to make it easier for Adani to win contracts to run airports. The company denies this and says that contracts were won relatively openly.

Opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi demanded Adani’s arrest for his criminal activities in the US and India and has accused Modi of protecting him.

India’s main opposition also demanded a parliamentary committee inquiry into the Adani group’s dealings, which Jairam Ramesh, leader of the Congress party, said was causing “growing monopolization in key sectors of the Indian economy, fueling inflation and also posing enormous foreign policy challenges.”

Ramesh said his party “has brought out the various dimensions of these scams and the intimate link between the Prime Minister (Modi) and his favorite businessman. These questions have remained unanswered.”

Last year, Adani companies lost $68 billion in market value after short-selling firm Hindenburg Research accused Adani of “pulling the biggest downside in corporate history”, triggering a massive sell-off in the group’s shares.

US-based Hindenburg accused Adani companies of share price manipulation and fraud just as the group launched a share issue meant to raise $2.5 billion.

The Adani group dismissed Hindenburg’s allegations, saying none were “based on independent or journalistic facts.” Adani’s response included documents and data tables and it said the group had made all necessary regulatory disclosures and had complied with local laws.

How Adani became Asia’s richest man

Adani’s net worth increased by around 2,000% in recent years as the share prices of his listed companies soared.

Before Modi took office, Adani was friendly with the rival Congress party, which ruled the state of Gujarat when many of his early projects began. Adani has been “close to every politician in power,” RN Bhaskar, a journalist who wrote a biography of Adani, told The Associated Press.

Adani’s supporters say he has cleverly aligned the group’s priorities with those of the government by investing in key industries such as renewable energy, defense and agriculture. His projects abroad, in strategically important countries such as neighboring Sri Lanka, are helping New Delhi compete with rival Beijing in the region.