US Justice Department Drops Criminal Charges Against Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani

New York, May 2026 : In a major development for the Adani Group, the US Department of Justice has permanently withdrawn all criminal charges against industrialist Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani in an alleged securities and wire fraud case being heard in the United States.

According to court filings submitted before the Eastern District of New York, the US Department of Justice formally requested dismissal of the indictment against the Adani executives and others named in the matter.

In its submission, the Justice Department stated that after reviewing the case, it had decided not to continue pursuing the criminal proceedings.

“The Department of Justice has reviewed this case and has decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources to these criminal charges against individual defendants,” the filing stated.

Following the request, the court ordered that the indictment against Gautam Adani and the co-accused “be dismissed with prejudice,” effectively closing the criminal case and preventing the charges from being refiled in the future.

During the proceedings, legal counsel representing Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani argued that there was no credible evidence supporting the allegations of bribery and fraud. The defence also maintained that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lacked the necessary jurisdiction over the two Indian businessmen.

The defence further contended that the alleged misstatements cited in the case were not legally actionable under US securities laws.

The Adani Group had consistently denied all allegations throughout the proceedings. In earlier statements, the conglomerate clarified that none of its entities or executives had been charged under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The group had also emphasised that Adani Green Energy — the renewable energy arm involved in raising funds linked to the matter — was not a direct party to the legal proceedings.

The latest development is being viewed as a significant legal relief for the Adani Group, particularly after facing multiple international investigations and scrutiny over the past few years.

With the dismissal of the criminal case, several regulatory and legal probes involving the conglomerate in the United States have now reportedly been closed.

Earlier this month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had also settled related civil allegations involving the Adani Group, marking another major step toward resolving legal disputes in the US.

However, even as the criminal proceedings were dropped, another financial development involving the group emerged on Monday.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it had reached a settlement worth 275 million US dollars with Adani Enterprises Limited over what it described as “apparent violations” of sanctions related to Iranian liquified petroleum gas (LPG) imports.

According to the OFAC statement, Adani Enterprises agreed to pay the settlement amount to resolve potential civil liabilities arising from alleged sanctions violations.

The US agency stated that between November 2023 and June 2025, Adani Enterprises purchased LPG shipments from a Dubai-based trader that claimed the supplies originated from Oman and Iraq.

However, OFAC alleged that warning signs should have alerted the company that the LPG shipments were actually sourced from Iran.

The statement further alleged that during this period, Adani Enterprises caused US financial institutions to process 32 dollar-denominated payments amounting to approximately 192 million dollars for the shipments.

Despite the settlement, the closure of criminal charges against Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani is expected to provide significant relief to the group amid ongoing international scrutiny and legal challenges.

Team Maverick.