Adani Denies Pledge To Invest $10 Billion Made US Drop Fraud Case

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – Influential billionaire Gautam Adani has denied that the Adani Group’s plans to invest billions of dollars in the US played any role in the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to seek dismissal of a criminal fraud and bribery case against him.

In a sworn declaration filed in federal court on July 15, Adani said he was unaware of any arrangement linking the group’s proposed U.S. investments to the Justice Department’s decision to abandon the prosecution.

“To my knowledge, the Adani Group’s interest in investing in the United States had no role in the DOJ’s decision to seek the dismissal of the indictment,” Adani said in the filing. “I am not aware of any agreement involving any person or entity exchanging anything for the dismissal of the indictment.”

The declaration was submitted after U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis directed Adani to explain whether any agreement had been reached with the Trump administration in exchange for the government’s request to dismiss the case.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn indicted Adani in 2024, accusing him of participating in a large-scale fraud and bribery scheme involving alleged payments to Indian government officials to secure contracts for what prosecutors described as India’s largest solar power project. Prosecutors also alleged that investors in the United States were misled about the company’s anti-corruption practices. The contracts were expected to generate about $2 billion in profits over two decades.

Adani has consistently denied the allegations, describing them as baseless.

In May, the Justice Department asked the court to dismiss the indictment, saying it did not wish to devote further government resources to the prosecution. It came in the wake of Adani hiring lawyers close to President Donald Trump.

Adani’s attorney, Robert J. Giuffra Jr., has acknowledged that, during two discussions with government officials, the defense indicated that the Adani Group remained willing to follow through on Gautam Adani’s previously announced plan to invest $10 billion in the United States to strengthen U.S.-India trade ties.

However, he said prosecutors declined to consider the proposed investment as part of any resolution of the case, citing an email from the Justice Department.