Indian conglomerate Adani Group, led by billionaire Gautam Adani, has reached an agreement to pay $18 million in penalties to settle a civil fraud lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC had accused the Adanis in 2024 of misleading U.S. investors about anti-bribery practices during a bond offering and of paying bribes to Indian officials in connection with renewable energy projects.
The proposed settlement, which requires court approval, has been met with a positive market reaction, as shares of Adani Group firms saw an increase on Friday. The Adani Group is a major Indian business conglomerate with significant investments in critical sectors like energy and airports.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Adanis will not admit or deny the allegations. The settlement also prohibits them from future violations of key U.S. anti-fraud statutes, which cover investor deception, securities fraud, and market manipulation.
The SEC's 2024 lawsuit alleged that the Adanis raised $750 million, with approximately $175 million coming from U.S. investors. This fundraising allegedly occurred while the company was misleading these investors regarding Adani Green Energy's compliance with anti-bribery regulations. The Adani Group has previously described these allegations as "baseless."
In a separate development, reports from The New York Times, Reuters, and Bloomberg indicated on Thursday that the U.S. Department of Justice was preparing to dismiss criminal fraud charges against Gautam Adani. This potential shift by the justice department reportedly followed Adani's engagement of a new legal team. This team is said to be led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., who heads a prominent U.S. law firm and serves as a personal legal advisor to President Donald Trump. Giuffra was among the legal counsel previously retained by Trump to contest his conviction in a hush-money payment case.
Sources cited by The New York Times suggest that Giuffra met with justice department officials last month to present concerns about the case. It was also reportedly noted that Adani pledged to invest $10 billion in the U.S. and create 15,000 jobs if the charges were dropped. This commitment echoes a pledge Adani had previously made to Trump shortly after his victory in the 2024 presidential election. Reports to The Times indicated that the dismissal of charges may reflect a broader strategic shift under the Trump administration away from prosecuting foreign bribery cases.
Gautam Adani, 63, has an estimated net worth of $82 billion, according to Forbes, positioning him among the world's wealthiest individuals.
