How Gautam Adani got US bribery and fraud charges dropped
What's the story
Billionaire Gautam Adani has been exonerated from bribery and securities fraud charges by US prosecutors. The decision came after a 10-week defense campaign, which included nearly 600 pages of legal arguments, presentations, and expert testimony. The extensive effort was enough to convince the Justice Department to drop the case against him.
Legal approach
Defense campaign spanned over 2 months
The defense campaign, led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr. co-chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, spanned from February 3 to April 17.
It included a detailed 118-page submission to prosecutors, a supplementary filing of 12 pages long, and two slide presentations totaling 130 pages.
A separate presentation of 151 pages was also submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March.
Case dismissal
Case against Adani unsealed in November 2024
The case against Adani and others was unsealed on November 20, 2024.
It accused them of conspiring to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials for solar energy supply contracts.
The defendants were also accused of misleading investors about the scheme, allowing the group to raise over $3 billion through loans and bond issuances.
However, the Adani Group has consistently denied these allegations as baseless.
Dismissal rationale
Judge's initial pushback on government brief explanation
On May 18, 2026, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the indictment.
Judge Nicolas Garaufis initially found the government's brief explanation insufficient and asked prosecutors to explain publicly why they were abandoning the case.
In a subsequent filing, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter cited jurisdictional and evidentiary challenges as well as revised enforcement priorities for their decision.
Settlement details
Parallel civil proceedings and defense team efforts
In parallel civil proceedings, Gautam and Sagar Adani settled with the SEC for $6 million and $12 million, respectively. They did not admit or deny the SEC's allegations.
The defense team, which was hired in August 2025 after the indictment was unsealed, spent "many thousands of hours" analyzing documents related to this case.
They presented a comprehensive rebuttal in stages between February and April 2026.
Investment impact
Proposal to resolve charges rejected
Adani's defense team also highlighted his November 2024 social media pledge to invest $10 billion in "US energy security and resilient infrastructure projects."
The company said this commitment could support up to 15,000 jobs.
However, US Attorney Joseph Nocella rejected any proposal to resolve the criminal charges with such an investment offer in a May 11 email.