The U.S. Division of Justice has completely dropped all felony costs towards Indian tycoon Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar, bringing the high-profile securities and wire fraud case in New York to an entire shut after prosecutors concluded they may not maintain the allegations.
With this, a number of U.S. regulatory and authorized investigations involving the group have all closed within the final couple of days.
Final week, the U.S. Securities and Change Fee settled civil allegations towards the 2 males tied to disclosures made to traders in reference to photo voltaic power initiatives in India. Court docket filings confirmed Gautam Adani agreed to pay $6 million and Sagar Adani $12 million, with out admitting or denying wrongdoing.
Thereafter, the U.S. Treasury Division’s Workplace of Overseas Belongings Management (OFAC) settled allegations of the Adani Group violating U.S. sanctions on Iran in LPG imports. This adopted the Indian conglomerate agreeing to pay $275 million whereas extending “in depth cooperation” with the investigation and making “proactive” disclosures.
Now, the U.S. prosecutors on the Jap District of New York dropped all costs towards Gautam Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani.
In a submitting earlier than the court docket, the U.S. Division of Justice requested the dismissal of the indictment towards the Adanis with prejudice.
“The Division of Justice has reviewed this case and has determined, in its prosecutorial discretion, to not commit additional assets to those felony costs towards particular person defendants,” it mentioned.
Thereafter, the court docket ordered that the indictment towards Adani and others “be dismissed with prejudice”.
The closure marks a dramatic flip in a case that had threatened to disrupt the Adani Group’s international enlargement plans. The SEC and DOJ circumstances, filed in late 2024, alleged the Adanis orchestrated a $265 million bribery scheme involving Indian officers to safe solar energy contracts and hid the association from U.S. traders and lenders whereas elevating capital.
The dismissal was “with prejudice”, stopping the case from being reopened.
Such dismissals are unusual in U.S. felony proceedings and usually mirror a dedication that pursuing the case is now not warranted after in depth assessment.
The case turned in Adani’s favour after prosecutors discovered no clear U.S. linkages and inadequate proof to maintain the allegations, in accordance with individuals accustomed to the matter.
The anticipated resolution follows months of aggressive engagement between U.S. prosecutors and a formidable authorized group assembled by the Adanis.
5 American authorized counsel from Sullivan & Cromwell, alongside Nixon Peabody, Hecker Fink, Norton Rose Fulbright and Bracewell, made a collection of submissions and shows to U.S. authorities as a part of the assessment course of. The assessment failed to supply findings able to sustaining costs towards Gautam and Sagar Adani, prompting the DoJ to maneuver in the direction of dismissal.
In submissions disclosed publicly on April 7, 2026, earlier than america District Court docket for the Jap District of New York, Adani’s legal professionals mounted a forceful problem to the U.S. SEC’s fraud-related proceedings, calling them an “impermissibly extraterritorial utility” of U.S. securities legal guidelines. The defence argued the case concerned “Indian Defendants, an Indian issuer”, securities not traded on U.S. exchanges and alleged conduct occurring “solely in India”.
The filings said the SEC “lacked obligatory jurisdiction”, failed to ascertain actionable misstatements and couldn’t tie both defendant to the bond providing. The legal professionals asserted the SEC had “recast” unviable anti-bribery allegations into securities fraud claims. The submissions famous there have been “no investor losses”, all bond obligations had been honoured and Gautam Adani “didn’t authorise the issuance of the bonds”.
The case had confronted mounting scrutiny from authorized specialists over whether or not prosecutors had stretched securities legal guidelines to pursue conduct centred abroad.
Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain had been charged solely below securities and wire fraud statutes (counts 2, 3 and 4). They weren’t named within the extra severe Overseas Corrupt Practices Act bribery cost or obstruction-related depend (counts 1 and 5), which prosecutors introduced towards different defendants within the wider case.
The Adani Group has persistently rejected the allegations as meritless, defending its governance and compliance requirements whereas pledging to contest the proceedings via authorized channels.
That distinction, together with no U.S. linkages, more and more moulded criticism of the federal government’s authorized strategy. Former SEC commissioner Laura Unger argued that authorities had successfully tried to predicate a securities fraud case on allegations of bribery that had neither been adjudicated nor formally pursued in India.
Printed – Might 18, 2026 10:38 pm IST
