The U.S. Department of Justice has permanently dropped all criminal charges against Indian tycoon Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar, bringing the high-profile securities and wire fraud case in New York to a complete close after prosecutors concluded they could not sustain the allegations.

With this, multiple U.S. regulatory and legal investigations involving the group have all closed in the last couple of days.

Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission settled civil allegations against the two men tied to disclosures made to investors in connection with solar energy projects in India. Court filings showed Gautam Adani agreed to pay $6 million and Sagar Adani $12 million, without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

Thereafter, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) settled allegations of the Adani Group violating U.S. sanctions on Iran in LPG imports. This followed the Indian conglomerate agreeing to pay $275 million while extending “extensive cooperation” with the investigation and making “proactive” disclosures.

Now, the U.S. prosecutors at the Eastern District of New York dropped all charges against Gautam Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani.

In a filing before the court, the U.S. Department of Justice requested the dismissal of the indictment against the Adanis with prejudice.

“The Department of Justice has reviewed this case and has decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources to these criminal charges against individual defendants,” it said.

Thereafter, the court ordered that the indictment against Adani and others “be dismissed with prejudice”.

The closure marks a dramatic turn in a case that had threatened to disrupt the Adani Group’s global expansion plans. The SEC and DOJ cases, filed in late 2024, alleged the Adanis orchestrated a $265 million bribery scheme involving Indian officials to secure solar power contracts and concealed the arrangement from U.S. investors and lenders while raising capital.

The dismissal was “with prejudice”, preventing the case from being reopened.

Such dismissals are uncommon in U.S. criminal proceedings and typically reflect a determination that pursuing the case is no longer warranted after extensive review.

The case turned in Adani’s favour after prosecutors found no clear U.S. linkages and insufficient evidence to sustain the allegations, according to people familiar with the matter.

The anticipated decision follows months of aggressive engagement between U.S. prosecutors and a formidable legal team assembled by the Adanis.

Five American legal counsel from Sullivan & Cromwell, alongside Nixon Peabody, Hecker Fink, Norton Rose Fulbright and Bracewell, made a series of submissions and presentations to U.S. authorities as part of the review process. The review failed to produce findings capable of sustaining charges against Gautam and Sagar Adani, prompting the DoJ to move towards dismissal.

In submissions disclosed publicly on April 7, 2026, before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Adani’s lawyers mounted a forceful challenge to the U.S. SEC’s fraud-related proceedings, calling them an “impermissibly extraterritorial application” of U.S. securities laws. The defence argued the case involved “Indian Defendants, an Indian issuer”, securities not traded on U.S. exchanges and alleged conduct occurring “exclusively in India”.

The filings stated the SEC “lacked necessary jurisdiction”, failed to establish actionable misstatements and could not tie either defendant to the bond offering. The lawyers asserted the SEC had “recast” unviable anti-bribery allegations into securities fraud claims. The submissions noted there were “no investor losses”, all bond obligations were honoured and Gautam Adani “did not authorise the issuance of the bonds”.

The case had faced mounting scrutiny from legal experts over whether prosecutors had stretched securities laws to pursue conduct centred overseas.

Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain were charged only under securities and wire fraud statutes (counts 2, 3 and 4). They were not named in the more serious Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bribery charge or obstruction-related count (counts 1 and 5), which prosecutors brought against other defendants in the wider case.

The Adani Group has consistently rejected the allegations as meritless, defending its governance and compliance standards while pledging to contest the proceedings through legal channels.

That distinction, along with no U.S. linkages, increasingly moulded criticism of the government’s legal approach. Former SEC commissioner Laura Unger argued that authorities had effectively attempted to predicate a securities fraud case on allegations of bribery that had neither been adjudicated nor formally pursued in India.

Published – May 18, 2026 10:38 pm IST

The November 2024 indictment in New York accused Gautam Adani and multiple subordinates of deliberately misleading international investors as part of a vast bribery scheme
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Challenging the decision of the Biden administration to investigate the activities of billionaire Gautam Adani, an influential Republican lawmaker in the U.S. has said such selective actions risk damaging critical alliances with key partners.

In a strongly worded letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, Congressman Lance Gooden, a member of the House Judiciary Committee also asked, “What will the U.S. do if India refuses to comply with an extradition request.”

Mr. Gooden also demanded answers on the Justice Department’s selective prosecution of foreign entities and the potential harm such actions pose to the U.S.’s global alliances and economic growth and if there is any Geroge Soros connection to it.

“The Department of Justice’s selective actions risk damaging critical alliances with key partners like India, one of America’s strongest allies in the Asia-Pacific region,” Mr. Gooden said in his letter dated January 7.

Gautam Adani indictment: In-depth coverage

“Instead of pursuing cases with tenuous jurisdiction and limited relevance to the U.S. interests, the DOJ should focus on punishing bad actors at home, rather than chasing rumours abroad,” he said.

‘Harms the U.S.’

The five-term Republican lawmaker said that targeting entities that invest tens of billions of dollars and create tens of thousands of jobs for Americans only harms the U.S. in the long run.

“When we forego real threats from violent crime, economic espionage, and CCP influence and go after those who contribute to our economic growth, it discourages valuable new investors who are hopeful of investing in our country,” he said.

“An unwelcome and politically charged atmosphere for investors will only stall efforts to revitalise America’s industrial base and economic growth, directly undermine President Trump’s commitment to revive the economy with increased investments.

“Given the timing of these decisions coincides with the end of the Biden administration, concerns arise that the only true goal here is disruption for President Trump,” Mr. Gooden said.

Instead of expending valuable taxpayer resources on opening lengthy and perhaps politically motivated pursuits in foreign countries thousands of miles away, the Department should cooperate with the incoming administration on better serving the American people, he said.

“As a cog in the outgoing administration, it is your duty to the public in being mindful of not creating further complications that could compromise America’s geopolitical eminence,” Gooden said in the letter two weeks ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States on January 20.

‘Straining America’s global alliances’

“I am writing to inquire about the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recent selective pursuits of cases against foreign entities that could irreparably strain America’s global alliances,” he said.

“As our country enters a new period under President Trump, Americans are hopeful it will mark the revival of prosperity, growth, economic recovery, and political freedom. An important factor in our quest to revive our country’s prosperity includes the ability and freedom of prospective investors to do business in America,” he wrote.

“In complete abeyance of public outcry about the rising violent crimes at home, the DOJ seems to be pursuing new expeditions to target businesses for alleged injustices abroad,” he said.

“The allegations in the Adani case, even if proven true, would still fail to make us the appropriate and final arbiter on the issue. These ‘bribes’ were allegedly paid to Indian state government officials, in India, by Indian executives of an Indian company, with no concrete involvement of or injury to any American party,” Mr. Gooden wrote.

Gautam Adani has been charged by US prosecutors for allegedly being part of an elaborate scheme to pay $265 million (about ₹2,200 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.

Adani Group, however, denied the charges saying the allegations by U.S. prosecutors are “baseless” and the conglomerate is “compliant with all laws”.

“Conversely, Smartmatic, an American company responsible for conducting our elections, had executives who allegedly laundered money and paid bribes to foreign governments, according to the DOJ’s indictment earlier. However, despite numerous attempts by my colleagues and I to have our concerns addressed before the elections, we were never briefed by your department,” Mr. Gooden wrote.

Mr. Gooden asked why has the DOJ not indicted a single American if the case involves a significant nexus with the United States.

“Were there no Americans involved in this alleged scheme? Why has the DOJ pursued this case against Gautam Adani when the alleged criminal act, and the parties allegedly involved are in India? Do you seek to enforce justice in India?” he asked.

“Will the DOJ seek an extradition of the Indian executives involved in this case? What is the DOJ’s contingency plan if India refuses to comply with an extradition request and claims sole authority over this case? Is the DOJ or the Biden administration willing to escalate this case into an international incident between the United States and an ally like India?” the lawmaker said.

TotalEnergies purchased a 19.75% stake in Adani Green Energy in January 2021 – after the Indian company won what was then the world’s largest solar order, and just months before the payments to officials were alleged to have begun.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

French oil major TotalEnergies SE was not informed of a U.S. investigation into possible bribery and corruption at Adani Green Energy Limited, it said on Monday (November 25, 2024), adding it will stop financial contributions to investments with Adani Group companies following last week’s U.S. federal indictment.

“Until such time when the accusations against the Adani group individuals and their consequences have been clarified, TotalEnergies will not make any new financial contribution as part of its investments in the Adani group of companies,” the company said in a statement.

“TotalEnergies was not made aware of the existence of an investigation into the alleged corruption scheme,” the company added.

U.S. prosecutors on Thursday (November 21, 2024) charged eight people — including Indian tycoon Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and the former CEO of Adani Green Energy Limited — with promising and then making improper payments to Indian officials between July 2021 and 2024 for business advantages.

The French firm purchased a 19.75% stake in Adani Green Energy in January 2021 – after the Indian company won what was then the world’s largest solar order, and just months before the payments to officials were alleged to have begun.

Total also owns a 37.4% stake in Adani Total Gas Limited, as well as a 50% stake in three renewable joint ventures with Adani Green Energy.

Two of those joint ventures were entered into after the FBI served search warrants on Sagar Adani and seized evidence related to Adani Green Energy.

TotalEnergies shares were down 0.04% at 0945 GMT on Monday (November 25, 2024).