[Source: Reuters]

French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), opened a new tab halted on Monday investments into Adani Group after the Indian ports-to-power conglomerate was engulfed in a crisis over an alleged multi-million-dollar bribery scheme.

The move is the first major fallout from U.S. authorities’ decision to charge Adani’s billionaire chairman Gautam Adani and seven other people with agreeing to pay around $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials.

TotalEnergies, whose financial exposure to Adani firms is estimated at between $4 billion and $5 billion by analysts at Bernstein Research, said it had not been made aware of the investigation into the alleged corruption scheme.

While TotalEnergies’ plans for future investment in Adani Group firms were not known, the announcement of a pause adds to the criticism the $143-billion Indian conglomerate is facing about disclosure standards, which may lead to closer scrutiny by other investors.

TotalEnergies, which has a 20% stake and a seat on the board of the company at the center of the case, Adani Green Energy Ltd (ADNA.NS), opened a new tab, and said it rejects corruption in any form.

The U.S. prosecutors’ bribery charges related to alleged payments to obtain contracts that could yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years. The charges also included making misleading statements to the public despite being made aware of the U.S. investigation in 2023.

The Adani Group has said the accusations as well as those levelled by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a parallel civil case are baseless and that it will seek “all possible legal recourse”.

Adani did not immediately respond to a request for comment on TotalEnergies’ statement.

Shares of Adani Green Energy plunged more than 11% on Monday after the TotalEnergies statement before recovering to close 7.9% lower, while Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), opens new tab, in which the French company owns a 37.4% stake, ended down 1.4%.

India’s parliament was suspended on Monday after disruption by lawmakers demanding a discussion on the allegations while the crisis continued to hurt the group founded by Adani, 62, one of the world’s richest people.

On Sunday, a U.S. development agency said it was reviewing the impact of the bribery allegations on its agreement to lend more than $550 million to a Sri Lankan port development backed by the Adani group.

The agency said that no funds have yet been disbursed under the loan commitment.