US authorities 'reconsider' fraud charges against Adani

WASHINGTON:

US authorities are moving towards resolving fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani after he reportedly hired a new legal team led by US President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, according to reports published by Bloomberg News and The New York Times on Thursday.

Gautam and his nephew Sagar Adani were charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in November 2024 with allegedly orchestrating a scheme to pay or promise hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Indian government officials in order to benefit Adani Green Energy, where both serve as executives and directors.

Gautam was accused of conspiring to pay $250 million in bribes to Indian officials and misleading American and international investors through false statements. He and two other executives of an Indian renewable energy company were indicted in New York and charged with multiple counts of fraud in November 2024.

At the time, the US Department of Justice had alleged that, in addition to paying $250m in bribes, Adani also conspired "to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice".

In a filing submitted to the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, lawyers representing the Adanis said their clients disputed that there was any credible evidence supporting the alleged bribery scheme.

According to the reports, Trump's personal lawyer, Robert J Giuffra Jr, attended an undisclosed meeting at the Justice Department in April, during which he said Adani would invest $10 biilion in the US economy and create 15,000 jobs if prosecutors dropped the charges against him.