The administration of US President Donald Trump has moved to drop criminal fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani in a case where he was accused of bribing Indian officials up to $265 million to secure contracts and lying to US investors to execute a solar energy project in India. The charges have long been denied by his company.
The case was dropped by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) after Adani pledged to invest $10 billion in the US. In a brief letter to Judge Nicholas Garaufis at the Eastern District of New York, the DOJ stated: “The Department of Justice has reviewed this case and determined, in its prosecutorial discretion, that it will not allocate further resources to these criminal charges against the defendants.” The request still requires the judge’s approval.
The case was originally brought by the DOJ under former President Joe Biden, accusing Adani of bribing officials to secure multibillion-dollar solar energy contracts, causing losses to US investors. At the time, a US grand jury detailed that the defendants had “orchestrated a sophisticated scheme” and lied about bribery while raising capital.
Adani Green Energy was accused of bribing officials to win a contract to build India’s largest solar power plant, while misleading investors about anti-corruption measures. Prosecutors said Adani and his associates raised over $3 billion during the process.
The Trump administration’s move to drop the case followed changes in Adani’s legal team. The billionaire, ranked the 17th richest person globally with a fortune of $108 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, hired lawyer Robert J. Giuffra Jr., who also serves as President Trump’s personal attorney. Giuffra Jr. announced that Adani would invest $10 billion in the US, creating 15,000 jobs, while emphasizing the billionaire’s denial of all allegations.
Reuters reported that Adani wanted to invest in the US but “could not do so while the case was ongoing.”
On the same day, the US Treasury Department announced a $275 million settlement with Adani related to allegations of violating Iran sanctions. The company was accused of purchasing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from a Dubai-based trader that actually originated from Iran. Adani Enterprises has since stopped importing LPG into India and established a compliance officer position to adhere to US Treasury guidelines.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also settled a civil lawsuit with Adani over bribery allegations. According to the SEC, if approved by the court, Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani would pay civil fines of $6 million and $12 million, respectively. Adani did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
