US court dismisses criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani

A US judge formally dismissed criminal charges Monday against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, ending nearly two years of proceedings in a fraud and bribery case.

The judge, however, raised concerns about the Justice Department’s decision to drop the charges, calling the conduct of Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, Trent McCotter, “highly unusual”.

“The fact that McCotter came to this decision [to drop the charges] largely in collaboration with defense counsel, and seemingly without input from the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] and SEC [Securities Exchange Commission] agents who investigated the alleged misconduct, or [prosecutors] who brought the case, appears to be highly unusual,” wrote Brooklyn-based U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis.

Judge Garaufis’s decision to grant federal prosecutors’ rare bid to toss the case came after he inquired into their reasons for doing so, including whether Adani’s November 2024 promise to invest $10 billion in the U.S. was a factor in the decision to drop the charges.

The Indian billionaire was charged in 2024 with agreeing to pay $250m in bribe to Indian government officials so a subsidiary of his Adani Group could win approval to develop a solar energy plant, then misleading U.S. investors by providing reassuring information about his company’s anti-corruption practices.

Adani Group has consistently denied wrongdoing. Adani himself has not appeared in U.S. court to respond to the charges.

In a statement on X, Adani welcomed the “U.S. court’s decision with humility and ‌deep respect for the judicial process.

“Throughout this challenging period, our faith in truth, fairness and the rule of law remained unwavering.

“My deepest gratitude to those who never lost faith in us, in the system and in India’s capacity for justice.”

In dismissing the charges, the judge said that he was satisfied that the investment pledge did not factor into the justice department’s decision but he criticised McCotter for collaborating with Adani’s defence lawyers in deciding to dismiss the charges without input from the prosecution or the investigators.

“The irregularities ⁠in the decision to dismiss the indictment are concerning,” Judge Garaufis wrote. “McCotter appears to have eschewed the professional opinions of innumerable officials from various federal ​offices and replaced ⁠them with his singular judgment.”

Earlier, in a sworn declaration filed in court on July 15, Adani acknowledged having promised to invest $10 billion in the U.S. and said his lawyers told the Justice Department in meetings that the pledge “might be part of a resolution of these matters”.

Robert Giuffra, a lawyer for Adani, said in a 15 July court declaration that the defendants had told the Justice Department the Adani Group was “amenable” to following through on the investment pledge as part of a resolution to the case.

The judge, however, noted that his role in reviewing a federal prosecutor’s decision to drop charges was limited. He also added that his dismissal of the case should not be interpreted as his agreement with the Justice Department’s decision to drop the charges or an opinion about the merits of the case.

Judge Garaufis wrote that he took “no position on the ultimate propriety of Mr Giuffra’s repeat attempts to resolve this bribery case with monetary offers.

“It is up to the public to decide what effect offers of this kind have on the equal administration of justice and the rule of law.”

Earlier, in a July 4 submission made before the court, the prosecutor said that the case was primarily foreign, hard to prove and inconsistent with the agency’s current priorities.

The Department of Justice also said that the indictment has little realistic prospect of proceeding to trial and appeared to have been a politically motivated “name and shame” exercise orchestrated by the outgoing Joe Biden administration.

In the ‌filing, McCotter also denied as false what he called media stories suggesting he sought to dismiss the case in part because ​of a promise by Adani to invest money in the U.S.

Adani, his nephew, and six others had been indicted in November 2024 in the final weeks of Biden’s presidency by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, New York.

The judge has demanded that the Justice Department provide more information to help him make a decision on the dismissal of charges against additional defendants.

In a separate resolution to civil charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Adani agreed to pay $6 million and his nephew, Sagar Adani, agreed to pay $12 million. Adani Enterprises Limited has separately agreed to pay $275 million to the Treasury Department to settle alleged violations of Iran sanctions.

The proceedings against Adani’s firm unfolded against the backdrop of heightened global scrutiny following the now-shuttered Hindenburg research in January 2023 which accused Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud.

It triggered a sharp sell-off in the company’s stock, erasing more than $150 billion in market value. The group consistently maintained that it complied with the laws and disclosure requirements, before it was granted a clean chit by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India in September 2025.