The US Department of Justice on Monday permanently dropped all criminal charges against Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar, bringing high-profile securities and wire fraud case in New York to a complete closure after prosecutors concluded they could not sustain the allegations.
This comes after Adani Enterprises settled a case with the US Treasury with a payment of $275 million to settle a probe into whether it violated Washington's sanctions against Iran.
In a filing before the court, the US Justice Department requested for dismissal of the indictment against the Adanis with prejudice.
"The Department of Justice has reviewed this case and has decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources to these criminal charges against individual defendants," it said. The court then ordered that the indictment against Adani and others "be dismissed with prejudice".
The closure marks a dramatic turn in a case that had threatened to disrupt the Adani Group's global expansion plans.
The SEC and DOJ cases, filed in late 2024, alleged the Adanis orchestrated a $265 million bribery scheme involving Indian officials to secure solar power contracts and concealed the arrangement from US investors and lenders while raising capital.
The case dismissal on Monday was "with prejudice", preventing the case from being reopened.
PTI reported that such dismissals are uncommon in US criminal proceedings and typically reflect a determination that pursuing the case is no longer warranted after extensive review.
Prosecutors found no clear US linkages and insufficient evidence to sustain the allegations, PTI reported, citing people familiar with matter. The anticipated decision follows months of aggressive engagement between US prosecutors and a formidable legal team assembled by the Adani Group.
Also read: US authorities moving to end fraud cases against Gautam Adani
Five American legal counsel from Sullivan & Cromwell, alongside Nixon Peabody, Hecker Fink, Norton Rose Fulbright and Bracewell, made a series of submissions and presentations to US authorities as part of the review process through the pas few months. The review failed to produce findings capable of sustaining charges against Gautam and Sagar Adani, hence prompting the DoJ to move towards dismissal.
On May 15, Reuters had reported that the possible dismissal of the criminal charges comes after Adani's lawyer, Robert Giuffra told Justice Department officials in a presentation last month that Adani Enterprises could not make its investment while the case was proceeding.
Adani had publicly promised to invest the $10 billion and create 15,000 jobs in the US economy after Trump's victory in the 2024 election.
Giuffra, who is also a personal attorney of US President Donald Trump, spent the bulk of his 100-page presentation arguing the case was weak because it did not have proper jurisdiction and lacked evidence, Reuters reported, citing an anonymous source. Giuffra made a similar argument in court filings in the parallel SEC case last month.
In a statement, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the agreement had been reached with Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), part of the magnate's sprawling multinational conglomerate of companies.
"AEL agreed to settle its potential civil liability for 32 apparent violations of OFAC's Iran sanctions," the Treasury document said, pointing to AEL's purchases of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) between November 2023 and June 2025.
The US settlement announcement said AEL had cooperated with OFAC's probe and agreed to additional nonmonetary remedial measures to strengthen compliance with US sanctions.
The probe focused on LPG imports arranged through a Dubai-based supplier that claimed to be exporting Omani and Iraqi gas, OFAC said.
"Red flags should have put AEL on notice that the LPG actually originated from Iran," the statement said.
Adani earlier agreed to pay a separate $18 million settlement in a US civil court case linked to corruption in government authorities. He was accused of having participated in an estimated $250 million scheme to bribe officials for lucrative solar energy supply contracts.
(With inputs from agencies)
