A US judge on Monday dismissed criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani after the Department of Justice announced its decision to abandon the fraud and bribery case.
District Judge Nicholas Garaufis, based in Brooklyn, granted federal prosecutors’ rare request to drop the case. This decision followed his inquiry into their reasons for doing so, which included directly asking Adani if any promises had been made in exchange for the charges being dropped. Adani had previously pledged to invest $10 billion in the United States in November 2024, before the charges were unsealed.
Adani was initially charged in 2024 with allegedly agreeing to bribe Indian government officials. The alleged purpose of these bribes was to secure approval for a subsidiary of his Adani Group to develop a solar energy plant. He was also accused of misleading US investors by providing reassuring but false information about his company’s anti-corruption practices.
The Adani Group has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and Adani himself has not appeared in a US court to respond to the charges. On May 18, the Department of Justice announced its intention to cease pursuing the case. This marked another instance during Donald Trump’s second term in the White House where federal prosecutors sought to drop a high-profile white-collar criminal prosecution.
Legal experts note that US judges typically have limited power to compel prosecutors to continue with criminal cases they no longer wish to pursue, though judicial approval is necessary for formal dismissal.
Judge Garaufis had initially pressed the Department of Justice to justify its decision, stating that its “bland and conclusory” announcement did not provide sufficient information.
In a July 4 court filing, Trent McCotter, a senior official with the Department of Justice, explained that the case was primarily foreign in nature, difficult to prove, and inconsistent with the agency’s current priorities. McCotter also explicitly denied what he termed media speculation that the dismissal was partly influenced by Adani’s promise to invest in the United States.
In response, Judge Garaufis directly asked Adani if he was “aware of any agreement exchanging anything for the dismissal of the indictment.”
In a sworn declaration filed in court on July 15, Adani affirmed that he was not aware of any such agreement. He did acknowledge his prior pledge to invest $10 billion in the US, and stated that his lawyers had informed the Department of Justice during meetings that this pledge “might be part of a resolution of these matters.” However, Robert Giuffra, Adani’s lawyer, stated in a July 15 court filing that the Department of Justice had explicitly told him it would not consider the Adani Group’s willingness to invest in the US as part of any resolution.
