US DOJ May Drop Fraud Charges Against Gautam Adani: Report

The United States Department of Justice is reportedly considering dropping fraud charges against Gautam Adani, marking a significant turn in the high-profile legal case involving the Adani Group chairman in the United States, reported The New York Times on Thursday. 

According to a report by The New York Times, the move comes months after American prosecutors accused Gautam Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani, of involvement in an alleged $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials in exchange for solar energy contracts.

The case, filed in November 2024, alleged that the Adanis concealed details of the purported payments while raising funds from investors in the United States, thereby misleading stakeholders about the company’s anti-corruption practices. At the time, the Adani Group strongly denied wrongdoing and maintained that the charges related to securities fraud rather than bribery.

In a stock exchange filing issued in November 2024, the conglomerate had said that Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani had been charged in the US over securities-related allegations and disputed claims surrounding bribery.

The reported shift in the Justice Department’s position follows an aggressive legal push mounted by Gautam Adani’s defence team. According to The New York Times, Adani hired a legal team headed by Robert J Giuffra Jr, a lawyer known for representing US President Donald Trump.

The report claimed Giuffra met senior Justice Department officials in Washington in April and presented a detailed case arguing that US prosecutors lacked both sufficient evidence and legal jurisdiction. The newspaper, citing unnamed individuals familiar with the matter, said the legal team used nearly 100 presentation slides to challenge the prosecution’s position.

One presentation slide allegedly suggested that Adani was prepared to invest $10 billion in the US economy and create around 15,000 jobs if the criminal case was dropped, according to the report.

Notably, shortly after Trump’s election victory in November 2024, Gautam Adani publicly congratulated the Republican leader and announced plans by the Adani Group to invest $10 billion in the United States while generating thousands of jobs.

Even if criminal proceedings are withdrawn, financial consequences may still follow. The New York Times reported that Gautam Adani is still expected to face financial penalties as part of negotiations surrounding the matter.

Separately, a parallel civil case brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears to have moved towards resolution. According to reports by the Financial Times and Bloomberg, Gautam Adani has agreed to settle the SEC proceedings by paying $6 million, while Sagar Adani is expected to pay $12 million.

In a filing to stock exchanges on Friday, Adani Green Energy clarified that the company itself is not directly involved in the proceedings. “The company is not a party to this proceeding, and no charges have been brought against it,” the filing stated. However, the company confirmed that both Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani had agreed to make payments towards a civil penalty. The filing stressed that the settlement was reached “without admitting or denying the allegations made in the civil complaint”.

The final decision from the US Eastern District Court of New York is still awaited. At the same time, legal and regulatory challenges for the Adani Group may not yet be over. According to The New York Times, the United States Department of the Treasury is separately investigating allegations involving the shipment of Iranian gas in possible violation of US sanctions. The report claimed authorities are considering a separate penalty that could amount to nearly $275 million.

Earlier this year, Gautam Adani reportedly moved a US court seeking dismissal of the SEC fraud case, arguing that the proceedings represented an excessive and improper extension of American law beyond US territory.