After the US SEC, the Department of Treasury and Justice is providing legal assistance to Adani
Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, visits the VIP jetty ghat during the Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India, on Jan. 21, 2025. Photographer: Indranil Aditya/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s legal troubles in the US are about to end as authorities close an investigation into bribery, fraud, and Iranian-sanctioned power-buying charges against the businessman and his company.
On Monday, the US Treasury Department settled the case Adani Companyflagship company of the Adani Group, which involves the purchase of Iranian energy approved between November 2023 and June 2025.
The Indian company agreed to pay $275 million to settle its “civil liability for apparent violations of OFAC. [Office of Foreign Assets Control] sanctions on Iran,” the official statement said.
The company bought a shipment of liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, from a Dubai trader that “claimed to supply Omani and Iraqi gas” but ignored red flags indicating the goods were coming from Iran, a US regulator said.
It added that the agreement showed “the violations were serious and not voluntary.”
Adani Group did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The Adani group oversees a sprawling business empire that includes ports, energy, and infrastructure, including several publicly traded companies, with the Adani family holding majority stakes in several firms.
Relief from DOJ investigation
In another major relief to the Indian business community, the US Justice Department also said it will drop criminal charges in the bribery and fraud investigation against Gautam Adani, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Monday.
The DOJ’s move was expected after the Securities and Exchange Commission last week moved to settle its case against Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani.
The SEC’s civil suit alleged that the two men misled investors as part of a bribery and fraud scheme related to solar contracts in India, similar charges the DOJ was also investigating.
According to a WSJ report, the DOJ has reviewed the case and “decided not to pursue additional resources in these criminal cases” against Adani and others.
In November 2024, a federal court in New York indicted Adani and seven others on charges related to a massive bribery and fraud scheme, which Adani Group denied as “baseless.”
These individuals are accused of paying Indian government officials more than $250 million to obtain solar power supply contracts worth more than $2 billion in profits.
Although the alleged conduct at the center of the DOJ case took place in India, the defendants were charged with misleading American and international investors about their company’s compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption measures while collecting more than $3 billion to finance those energy contracts.
According to a New York Times report last week, Adani’s legal team suggested that the Indian businessman was willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy and create 15,000 jobs, if the DOJ dropped the charges.
The latest wave of easing regulatory uncertainty in the US could help reopen Adani Group’s global capital markets and accelerate its renewables and infrastructure expansion plans.
The group had about 2.78 trillion rupees (about $32 billion) in total debt as of September last year, according to company data. International banks and capital markets account for 41% of Adani Group’s total debt.
— CNBC’s April Roach contributed to this report.
