The move to drop the charges seemed foreshadowed by events after President Donald Trump was elected to a second term and Gautam Adani lavished him with praise
NEW YORK (TIP): The US government has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed against Gautam Adani, who is accused of duping investors by concealing that his company’s huge solar energy project in India was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme, according to court filings published Thursday.
In the lawsuit filed in late 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani — both leaders of the energy company Adani Green Energy Limited — of promising to pay Indian government officials the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars in exchange for government contracts to purchase energy at inflated rates.
At the same time, the company secured several billions of dollars from Wall Street investors who were allegedly assured that the company had a robust anti-bribery compliance programme and were given promises from senior management that no bribery would take place.
Those actions, the SEC said at the time, violated antifraud provisions of US securities laws.
Court documents show that Gautam Adani agreed to pay civil penalties of USD 6 million while his nephew agreed to pay USD 12 million. The proposed settlement doesn’t include an admission of guilt.
The Adani Group denied the allegations at the time, calling them baseless. Messages left with both the Adanis’ attorneys were not returned on Thursday.
Both men were indicted in late 2024 in New York on charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud.
The New York Times and Bloomberg reported Thursday those charges are likely to get dropped. Messages left by The Associated Press with prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York were not returned.
The move to drop the charges seemed foreshadowed by events after President Donald Trump was elected to a second term and Gautam Adani lavished him with praise.
In March 2025, Trump suspended the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law banning business bribes overseas, raising expectations among some in India that the Adanis’ case was fatally damaged.
Be the first to comment