US judge dismisses Adani fraud charges

Washington:A US judge has dismissed criminal fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani after the Justice Department abandoned the prosecution.

US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis on Monday dismissed with prejudice securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and securities fraud conspiracy charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain. The charges cannot be filed again.

The three executives were accused of misleading US and international investors about an alleged scheme to pay Indian officials approximately $265 million in bribes for solar energy contracts. They denied wrongdoing.

Garaufis accepted the Justice Department’s narrow argument that the corporate statements cited in the indictment could be considered vague assurances or “inactionable puffery” rather than material misrepresentations.

The judge, however, rejected the department’s broader criticism of the prosecution.

Justice Department official R. Trent McCotter had described the indictment as a “name and shame” exercise by the previous administration. He suggested officials had deliberately left “a potential quagmire of a case” for the incoming administration.

The ruling did not dismiss the entire five-count indictment against all eight defendants.

Garaufis reserved judgment on foreign bribery and obstruction charges against Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal.

The judge ordered the Justice Department to provide sufficient factual support for dismissing those charges by August 31.

He also stressed that dismissing the fraud charges should not be taken as agreement with the department’s decision or as an opinion on the merits of the allegations.

The indictment was returned in October 2024 and unsealed the following month. Prosecutors alleged that the defendants participated in bribery, investor fraud and obstruction schemes linked to renewable energy projects in India.

Separate civil enforcement proceedings brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission remain distinct from the criminal case and are not automatically ended by Monday’s ruling.

IANS