The figure at the center of this fight is $10 billion. On July 15, Indian billionaire Gautam Adani told a federal court in Brooklyn, under oath, that his pledge to invest that sum in the United States had nothing to do with the Justice Department’s decision to drop criminal charges against him.
He swore he knew of nothing “promised, offered, sought, received, agreed to, or accepted” by anyone in connection with the dismissal, and denied knowing of any exchange of value for dropping the charges.
The judge asked first
The filing answered a July 8 order from US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York. The Justice Department had asked the court on May 18 to dismiss the indictment with prejudice, which would close the case for good. Garaufis was not ready to sign off. On June 26 he had told the department to explain itself, calling its motion “terse, bland and conclusory.” Then came a filing from Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter, who described himself as the “final and sole decision-maker” and called reports tying the dismissal to investment promises “false.”
That filing is what bothered the judge. He said it raised “for the first time” the possibility that some agreement involving a defendant existed, even though none had been disclosed. Before approving a dismissal under Rule 48(a), Garaufis wrote, the court has to be satisfied that the department’s reasons are genuine.
What Adani said
The affidavit puts the investment plan in a timeline. Adani announced it publicly on November 13, 2024, before the indictment was unsealed. In a post on X he spoke of $10 billion and 15,000 US jobs, and he stated he did not know the indictment existed when he wrote it.
Later, lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell met Justice Department and SEC officials and handed over a white paper and expert reports. They also suggested the investment could form part of a resolution if US authorities wanted to consider it. According to the affidavit, the department then told them it would not factor into the decision. “The investment plan played no role” is how Adani put it. A May 2026 email from department officials, cited in a declaration by Adani lawyer Robert Giuffra, said the proposal to settle the criminal charges partly through the $10 billion had been “categorically rejected.”
What the case was about
The 2024 indictment, filed under the Biden administration, accused Adani and seven others of a scheme to pay about $250 million in bribes to Indian officials for power supply contracts, and of misleading investors while raising money in US markets. Adani has denied it all. When news of the charges broke, Adani Group shares lost nearly Rs 2.85 lakh crore in market value across four trading sessions.
McCotter’s reasons for wanting out were practical ones: most of the alleged conduct took place in India, Indian authorities had found no actionable misconduct, investors had lost nothing, key evidence and witnesses sat outside the country, and the defendants were unlikely to appear in a US court. He added that Foreign Corrupt Practices Act charges no longer matched the administration’s priorities. In May, the SEC had also announced a settlement of its civil suit against Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, with combined penalties of $18 million.
The judge ruled on August 10. He dismissed the securities and wire-fraud counts against Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, reserved judgment on certain charges against five defendants who had not appeared, and rejected the “name and shame” explanation for the indictment, saying there was not “a scintilla of evidence” that it was politically motivated.
Sources
- Gautam Adani denies any deal linked to dismissal of US criminal case in sworn affidavit (The Economic Times, PTI)
- Adani's US legal saga: From bribery indictment to criminal case dismissal (Business Standard)
- 'Unaware Of Anything Promised Or Received': Adani Denies Deal Behind DOJ's Dismissal Of Criminal Indictment (Outlook Business)
