US Justice Department drops criminal fraud charges against Gautam Adani

The US Department of Justice has dropped criminal fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and several officials of his conglomerate, days after he agreed to settle a separate civil case.

Adani Enterprises, the flagship firm of the Adani Group, has also agreed to pay $275 million to the US Treasury to resolve a separate investigation into alleged violations of sanctions on Iran.

Sources told the BBC that the Adani Group has now resolved all three legal cases against it in the US, paving the way for Adani to travel to the US without risk of legal proceedings.

Media reports indicate the dropped charges reflect a broader shift away from prosecuting foreign bribery cases under the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Adani, 63, is one of the world’s richest people with a net worth of $82 billion, according to Forbes. His Adani Group is one of India’s largest business conglomerates, with interests in energy, ports, airports and other sectors.

The cases against him drew significant attention in both the US and India.

In 2024, the US Department of Justice filed criminal fraud charges against Adani and several company officials for allegedly paying bribes to Indian officials to secure high-profile renewable energy projects and misleading US investors. Adani and his company have strongly denied the allegations.

Adani Green Energy said in a regulatory filing Monday that the US Justice Department had “filed a motion seeking dismissal with prejudice of the charges” against Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and other group officials. The BBC has seen a copy of an order from the US District Court in the Eastern District of New York dismissing the case.

The decision to drop the charges reportedly followed Adani’s hiring of a new legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., head of one of the most powerful law firms in the US and a personal legal adviser to President Trump.

Giuffra met last month with Justice Department officials to outline concerns about the case, according to reports.

The New York Times reported, citing sources, that Adani’s lawyers said the billionaire would invest $10 billion in the US and create 15,000 jobs if prosecutors dropped the charges, reiterating a pledge he made to Trump after the 2024 presidential election.

The BBC has sought responses from the US Department of Justice and the Adani Group.

Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission moved to drop fraud charges against Adani and his nephew Sagar in a separate civil case after they agreed to pay a combined settlement of $18 million.

The agreement, which did not include any admission or denial of the allegations, barred the Adanis from future violations of US anti-fraud laws covering investor deception, securities fraud and market manipulation.

Separately, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced Monday that Adani Enterprises had agreed to settle a civil case for allegedly violating US sanctions on Iran.

According to a Treasury Department press release, from November 2023 to June 2025, Adani Enterprises purchased shipments of liquefied petroleum gas from a Dubai-based trader purporting to supply Omani and Iraqi gas that actually originated from Iran.

During this period, US financial institutions processed 32 US dollar-denominated payments totaling approximately $192 million for the shipments, the statement added.

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