WASHINGTON — Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani have agreed to pay a combined $18 million in penalties to settle a civil fraud lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Meanwhile, the US Justice Department is close to dropping criminal fraud charges against Gautam Adani, an Indian billionaire who has promised to invest $10 billion in the US economy, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Adani on Thursday 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. Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani have agreed to pay a combined $18 million in penalties to settle the case.
In 2024, the regulator had accused the Adanis of paying bribes to Indian officials for high-profile renewable energy projects and misleading US investors about anti-bribery practices while trying to raise funds through a bond offering.
The proposed agreement, which does not include any admission or denial of the allegations, also bars the Adanis from future violations of key US anti-fraud laws covering investor deception, securities fraud and market manipulation.
The Adani Group is one of India’s largest business conglomerates with interests in sectors including energy and airports.
Adani Group did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the report of the criminal charges being dropped. It has previously called the allegations “baseless.”
Shares of Adani Group companies pared early gains and were mixed on Friday in Indian trading. Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), the flagship of the group, rose as much as 3.2% in pre-open deals before trimming those gains to 0.8% in morning trade.
Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) fell 0.08%, Adani Energy Solutions (ADAI.NS) dropped 1.26%. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited rose 1.64%.
The possible dismissal of the criminal charges comes after Adani’s lawyer, Robert Giuffra, who is also a personal attorney of US President Donald Trump, told Justice Department officials in a presentation last month that Adani could not make its investment while the case was proceeding, one of the sources said.
Adani had publicly promised to invest the $10 billion and create 15,000 jobs in the US after Trump’s victory in the 2024 election.
In the 2024 lawsuit, the securities regulator had also accused the Adanis of raising $750 million, including approximately $175 million from US investors, while allegedly misleading them about Adani Green Energy’s compliance with anti-bribery laws.
According to Forbes, the 63-year-old Adani is worth $82bn, making him one of the world’s richest people.
Separately, the New York Times, Reuters and Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the US Department of Justice was moving to drop criminal fraud charges against Gautam Adani.
The New York Times reported that the justice department’s reversal came after Adani hired a new team of lawyers led by Robert J Giuffra Jr, head of one of the most powerful law firms in the US and one of President Donald Trump’s personal legal advisers.
Giuffra was one of the lawyers that Trump hired to appeal against his criminal conviction in the hush-money payment case .
According to reporting from the Times, Giuffra met last month with justice department officials, to lay out concerns about the case.
Source: Saudi Gazette