Bribe locally, raise money globally.

That pretty much sums up Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s business philosophy, as U.S. attorneys laid out late Wednesday. On Thursday, the fallout from the US indictment accusing the powerful tycoon of paying off government officials across three continents exploded.

The Big Man, Mr. A, and Numero Uno

The charges: Adani and his nephew Sagar agreed over the past four years to bribe Indian government officials to the tune of $265 million, according to the U.S. officials. They say he did it to secure contracts for his self-titled conglomerate, the Adani Group, which would rake in $2 billion in profits over the next two decades, including one to develop India’s largest solar plant. They then turned around and borrowed over $3 billion in loans and bond issues obtained under false pretenses, a fraud scheme involving unknown U.S. lenders, according to prosecutors.

So why is the US Department of Justice involved? It is illegal for foreign companies to collect money from American investors to pay bribes abroad. It is also illegal to collect money from investors while making false representations. Adani raised about $175 million from US investors under the alleged scheme, according to to the SEC.

Why Adani matters: At $85 billion, his net worth making him one of the top two dozen richest people on earth. His companies deal with ports, factories, power plants, mining, food, TV news, you name it. Much of its business comes from government contracts, which brings him close to powerful leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The fallout is already global:

• Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday interrupted a procurement process to expand the country’s largest airport, located in Nairobi, as it included a proposal from Adani. He also moved to close a $700 million deal with the Adani Group to build power transmission lines.
• Shares in Adani took a nosedive on Thursday, falling 23%, or more than $30 billion, and the company scrapped an impending $600 million bond sale.

Victory lap: The glib short-seller Hindenburg Research last year savaged Adani as “the biggest scam in corporate history”, scathingly accusing stock manipulation and accounting fraud Report. If the Hindenburg still has some short positions it will be a nice Christmas bonus.