US Justice Department Set to Drop Fraud Case Against Adani as Billionaire Resolves Parallel SEC Civil Dispute

The US Justice Department is close to dropping criminal fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who has pledged to invest $10 billion in the US economy, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Adani on Thursday also resolved a related civil fraud lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over an alleged scheme to bribe Indian government officials, subject to court approval.

The possible dismissal of the criminal charges comes after Adani’s lawyer, Robert Giuffra — who is also a personal attorney to U.S. President Donald Trump — told Justice Department officials in a presentation last month that Adani could not proceed with the investment while the case remained active, one of the sources said.

Adani had publicly pledged to invest the amount and create 15,000 jobs in the U.S. following Trump’s victory in the 2024 election. Giuffra reportedly devoted much of his 100-page presentation to arguing that the case was weak because it lacked proper jurisdiction and sufficient evidence, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Giuffra made similar arguments in court filings in the parallel SEC case last month.

Some prosecutors made clear that the proposed $10 billion investment would not influence the case, one of the sources said. It remains unclear whether others viewed the matter differently.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bloomberg News first reported that the Justice Department was close to dismissing Adani’s case. It is the latest example of Trump’s Justice Department seeking to abandon a high-profile criminal case initiated during the tenure of his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.

In November 2024, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged Adani over an alleged scheme in which they said he agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials so his company could secure approval to develop India’s largest solar power plant. Prosecutors alleged that Adani and his co-conspirators raised more than $3 billion through loans and bonds while concealing the alleged corruption from lenders and investors.

The Adani Group has described the allegations as “baseless”.

Related Civil Fraud Case Also Resolved

Adani also faced a related SEC civil fraud lawsuit, which the securities regulator settled on Thursday, subject to court approval, court records showed. Sagar Adani, the nephew of Gautam Adani, was also named in the SEC civil claims.

Under the settlement, Adani and his nephew would pay civil penalties totalling $18 million, although neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing, according to court records.

Adani Green Energy said in a statement that the two men and the SEC had filed for the entry of a final judgment before a New York court, which is now awaited.

The Adanis’ lawyers argued last month that there was no credible evidence supporting the bribery allegations made by the SEC.

They further said their clients’ lack of involvement in the offering, along with the absence of any intent to defraud or negligence, justified dismissal of the case.

The lawyers also described the SEC claims as “impermissibly extraterritorial”, arguing that both the alleged misconduct and the individuals involved were based in India, while the bonds were never traded on a US exchange.

The 63-year-old Adani is worth an estimated $82 billion, according to Forbes, making him one of the world’s richest people.

 

For any enquiries or information, contact ask@tlr.ae or call us on +971 52 644 3004. Follow The Law Reporters on WhatsApp Channels.