Nov 21 Reuters Firms of India39;s Adani Group conglomerate lost as much as 34 billion in market value on Thursday after U.S. prosecutors charged its billionaire chairman in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

Gautam Adani39;s flagship Adani Enterprises tumbled as much as 23 to its lowest since Nov. 2023 for its worst oneday drop since February last year.

Other group firms Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar and Adani Energy Solutions, ACC, Ambuja Cements and NDTV  also fell between 6 and 19.

The sharp selloff took down the total market capitalisation of the 10 Adanibacked companies to about 147 billion by 0854 GMT, from 169.08 billion on Tuesday.

Normally investors do not like any lapse of corporate governance and till the time there is clarification, investors will shy away from Adani group stocks, said Saurabh Jain, a retail equities analyst at SMC Global Securities.

In a statement, Adani Group dismissed the accusations as baseless and denied, and vowed to seek all possible legal recourse.

They come within two years of U.S. shortseller Hindenburg Research39;s accusations of improper use of tax havens and involvement in stock manipulation by Adani group, which the conglomerate has also denied.

This week U.S. authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about 265 million in bribes to Indian government officials for contracts expected to yield profit of 2 billion over 20…