The US Justice Department officially moved to drop its fraud case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, according to a Monday federal court filing, ending a years-long prosecution for allegedly participating in a $250 million bribery scheme for a major solar project.
In a short filing on Monday, the prosecutors said the Justice Department “has reviewed this case and has decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources to these criminal charges against individual defendants.”
The move to end Adani’s prosecution was expected after the Trump administration suspended enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act last year, which the Justice Department used to charge the billionaire in 2024.
Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York, must still approve the move to drop the charges.
Earlier on Monday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it also settled with Adani Enterprises Limited for violating sanctions against Iran, agreeing to drop a civil case against the billionaire’s business for a $275 million settlement.
Days earlier, the Securities and Exchange Commission also settled a civil fraud lawsuit with Adani, with the billionaire and his nephew Sagar Adani agreeing to pay $18 million while not admitting to any wrongdoing.
Forbes Valuation
Forbes estimated Adani’s net worth at $80.8 billion, making him the 25th-wealthiest person in the world and the second-wealthiest person in India, behind only Mukesh Ambani. Adani’s fortune is primarily derived from his ownership of the Adani Group, an Indian multinational conglomerate involved in energy and transportation, which serves as the largest airport manager in the country.
What To Watch For
Last week, the New York Times reported the Justice Department was considering dropping charges against Adani after the billionaire hired a new legal team headed by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., the co-chair of Sullivan & Cromwell and President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney.
According to the report, Giuffra presented Justice Department prosecutors with an unusual plan: if prosecutors dropped charges against the billionaire, he was prepared to invest $10 billion in the United States and create 15,000 jobs, according to the report.
Adani had previously made the same promise immediately after Trump was elected in 2024.
Reuters confirmed the reporting on Monday, citing a source familiar with the matter, and Giuffra reportedly told prosecutors that Adani’s planned investment could not go through due to the criminal case against him. (Forbes)