US judge dismisses criminal fraud and bribery case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani
A federal judge in Brooklyn dismissed criminal fraud and bribery charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani on August 10, granting a Justice Department request while sharply criticizing the DOJ official who led the effort to drop the case.
Dismissal of charges
On Monday, August 10, US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn dismissed criminal charges against Gautam Adani, India's richest man, granting a Justice Department request to abandon the fraud and bribery case. The 47-page ruling ended a prosecution that had threatened the expansion of Adani's conglomerate. Garaufis wrote that important elements of the case were legally dubious and that he was convinced the $10 billion investment offer Adani made in November 2024 did not factor into the DOJ's decision to seek dismissal. Charges against Adani and two other defendants were dismissed, while counts against four remaining defendants stayed open.
- Adani indicted on fraud and bribery charges; had pledged $10 billion US investment
- Justice Department announces it will no longer pursue the case
- McCotter files court document justifying dismissal
- Adani files sworn declaration denying any quid pro quo
- Judge Garaufis dismisses charges against Adani and two other defendants
The original charges
Adani was indicted in November 2024 on charges that he and associates paid more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy supply contracts. Prosecutors alleged the defendants then hid the scheme while raising funds from US investors and global financial institutions, providing false and misleading statements about the company's anti-corruption practices. The indictment was a 54-page, 5-count document filed by prosecutors across four government offices. Adani Group has consistently denied wrongdoing, and Adani himself never appeared in US court to respond to the charges.
DOJ's path to dismissal
On May 18, the Justice Department announced it would no longer pursue the case. In a July 4 court filing, Trent McCotter, the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, said the case was primarily foreign, hard to prove, and inconsistent with the agency's current priorities. McCotter also denied media reports that Adani's $10 billion investment pledge influenced the decision. Adani, in a sworn declaration filed July 15, said he was not aware of any agreement exchanging anything for the dismissal, but acknowledged that his lawyers had told the DOJ the pledge "might be part of a resolution of these matters."
Judge's sharp criticism
Garaufis sharply criticized McCotter's conduct, writing that he "appears to have eschewed the professional opinions of innumerable officials from various federal offices and replaced them with his singular judgment." The judge noted McCotter came to the decision largely in collaboration with defense counsel, seemingly without input from FBI and SEC agents who investigated the case, or attorneys from the DOJ, SEC, and US Attorney's Office who brought it. McCotter's suggestion that the indictment was politically motivated by the Biden administration was called "baseless" and "unbecoming of his office" by Garaufis.
The irregularities in the decision to dismiss the indictment are concerning.
Broader context
The dismissal fits a pattern of dropped white-collar prosecutions during Donald Trump's second term. Adani, a close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has an estimated fortune of $112 billion according to Bloomberg, placing him 18th on its list of the world's richest people. After the ruling, Adani posted on X that he welcomed the decision "with humility and deep respect for the judicial process." A DOJ spokesperson referred to McCotter's July filing when asked for comment on Garaufis's criticism.
