US Court Dismisses Fraud Charges Against Gautam Adani, Two Executives With Prejudice

A US federal court has brought an end to criminal fraud proceedings against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and two other executives following the Justice Department’s decision to abandon the prosecution.

US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis dismissed the securities fraud and wire fraud conspiracy allegations against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain. The judge dismissed the charges with prejudice.

The ruling prevents prosecutors from bringing the same charges against the three defendants again. It permanently closes the case against them on those dismissed allegations.

The defendants had faced accusations of misleading investors in the US and overseas. The allegations related to an arrangement involving around $265 million in payments. The payments were allegedly made to Indian officials for solar power contracts.

All three executives rejected the allegations and denied any wrongdoing.

The Justice Department argued that statements mentioned in the indictment represented broad assurances rather than legally actionable misrepresentations.

Judge Garaufis accepted this specific argument but declined to endorse the department’s wider objections to the prosecution.

The ruling does not bring the broader five-count indictment involving eight defendants to a complete close.

Judge Garaufis has yet to decide on the foreign bribery and obstruction allegations. The allegations involve Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal.

The court has, however, instructed the Justice Department to submit adequate factual grounds supporting its request to drop those remaining allegations by August 31.

The judge also made clear that his ruling should not be interpreted as support for the department’s decision or as a determination on the validity of the original allegations.

Federal prosecutors initially filed the indictment in October 2024 before making it public the following month.

The case alleged that the defendants took part in bribery, investor deception and obstruction linked to renewable energy ventures in India.

Separately, civil proceedings initiated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission continue independently.

The latest criminal ruling does not automatically bring those proceedings to an end.

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