India's Adani denies sanctions evasion or Iran LPG trade after WSJ reports US probe
India's Adani Group on Monday denied "any deliberate engagement" in sanctions evasion or trade involving Iranian-origin liquefied petroleum gas, after the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. prosecutors were probing whether Adani entities had imported Iranian LPG into India through their Mundra port.
An Adani spokesperson called the report "baseless and mischievous" in a statement, adding: "We are not aware of any investigation by U.S. authorities on this subject."
The WSJ said it had found tankers travelling between the Gulf and billionaire Gautam Adani's Mundra port in western India exhibiting traits that experts say are common for ships evading sanctions.
It said the U.S. Justice Department was reviewing the activities of several LPG tankers used to ship cargoes to Adani Enterprises, the group's flagship entity, citing people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report and the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Adani said it did not handle any cargo from Iran at its ports, as a matter of policy.
It said all its LPG trade, which accounts for 1.46% of Adani Enterprises' total revenue, was fully compliant with domestic and international laws, including U.S. sanctions regulations.
A shipment referred to by the WSJ was handled as a "routine commercial transaction" via third-party logistics partners and supported by documentation identifying Sohar, Oman, as the port of origin, Adani said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in May that any party buying Iranian oil or petrochemical products would immediately be subject to secondary sanctions.
Last November, U.S. authorities indicted Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani, on suspicion of paying bribes to secure power supply contracts and misleading U.S. investors during fund-raising in the United States.
Adani Group has denied the accusations and vowed to fight them.
(Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina, Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Mark Heinrich and Kevin Liffey)
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