India's Adani denies sanctions evasion and Iran LPG trade following WSJ report
Adani Group in India denied on Monday "any deliberate involvement" in sanctions evasion, or trade of liquefied gas with Iranian origin after Wall Street Journal reported U.S. prosecutors investigating whether Adani entities imported Iranian LPG to India through its Mundra port.
In a press release, an Adani spokesperson called this report "baseless" and "mischievous", adding that "we are not aware of any investigations by U.S. Authorities on this topic."
The WSJ reported that it found tankers traveling between the Gulf of Mexico and Gautam Adani’s Mundra port, located in western India, exhibiting traits experts believe are common among ships evading sanction.
According to people familiar with this matter, the U.S. Justice Department is reviewing the activities of LPG tankers that ship cargo to Adani Enterprises. This group's flagship company.
The U.S. Department of Justice in Brooklyn and the U.S. Attorney's Office did not respond immediately to comments.
Adani stated that it does not accept any cargo from Iran in its ports.
Adani Enterprises said that all of its LPG trading, which represents 1.46% (or $1.46 billion) of the total revenue generated by Adani Enterprises, is fully compliant with both domestic and international law, including U.S. sanction regulations.
Adani stated that the shipment referred by the WSJ had been handled by third-party logistic partners as a "routine transaction". Documentation identifying Sohar as the port was also provided, Adani added.
In May, Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that anyone who purchases Iranian oil or petrochemicals will be immediately subject to secondary sanctions.
In November last year, U.S. officials indicted Adani along with his nephew Sagar Adani on suspicion that they paid bribes in order to secure contracts for power supply and misled U.S. investors when raising funds in the United States.
Adani Group denied the allegations and promised to fight them. (Reporting and editing by Mrigank Dahniwala, Mark Heinrich, Kevin Liffey, Chris Thomas, in Bengaluru)
(source: Reuters)
