US Judge Dismisses Bribery and Fraud Charges Against Gautam Adani, Criticizes Justice Department Process

A U.S. federal judge has dismissed criminal bribery and fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, ending a high-profile prosecution that drew international attention. The decision, contained in a 47-page opinion, grants the Justice Department's request to drop the indictment but sharply criticizes how that outcome was reached.

In 2024, prosecutors accused Adani of paying bribes to Indian officials connected to major renewable energy projects and of misleading U.S. investors about those payments. Adani and his companies have consistently denied any wrongdoing.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis approved the Justice Department's motion to dismiss the case. However, he strongly rebuked a senior Justice Department official, R. Trent McCotter, for collaborating with Adani's lawyers on the dismissal without meaningful consultation with the prosecutors and investigators who handled the matter.

Garaufis called the process "highly unusual" and wrote that McCotter appeared to have substituted his own judgment for that of the officials directly involved in the investigation. The BBC reviewed a copy of the ruling on CourtListener, a public court archive, and other news organisations have also examined the opinion.

The Justice Department told the court in May that much of the alleged conduct took place outside the United States, making effective prosecution difficult, and that continuing the case no longer matched the department's priorities. That request followed Adani's retaining a new legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., co-chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, who reportedly met Justice Department officials to raise concerns about the prosecution.

Judge Garaufis initially resisted the dismissal. In June he ordered the department to provide more information, questioning whether Adani's pledge to invest $10 billion in the U.S. and create 15,000 jobs had influenced the decision. Adani announced that investment pledge in November 2024 in a post congratulating Donald Trump on his election victory, and some reports said Adani's lawyers had raised the pledge in discussions with Justice Department officials. Adani's lawyers deny the investment was offered in exchange for dropping the case.

Ultimately, Garaufis concluded there was no evidence the investment pledge swayed the department's decision. Still, he warned that the sequence of events could lead the public to draw its own conclusions about equal justice and the rule of law.

The judge also emphasized that McCotter's decision appeared to have been made without meaningful input from the prosecutors who brought the indictment or investigators at the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission. "The irregularities in the decision to dismiss the indictment are concerning," Garaufis wrote.

The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled. Adani, who never appeared in U.S. court during the proceedings, welcomed the ruling and posted that he accepted the decision with "humility" and "deep respect" for the judicial process.

These criminal proceedings are separate from other U.S.-related matters involving Adani and his companies. In May, Adani agreed to pay $6 million and his nephew, Sagar Adani, $12 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations about investor disclosures, without admitting or denying wrongdoing. Separately, Adani Enterprises — the group's flagship company — agreed to pay $275 million to resolve potential civil liability over apparent violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Gautam Adani, 64, chairs the Adani Group, a diversified conglomerate with businesses in energy, ports, airports and infrastructure. He is one of India's wealthiest individuals and is widely regarded as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi; both men are from Gujarat.