The US Justice Department is set to drop charges against billionaire Gautam Adani in the alleged bribery case, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
The development comes after Adani “hired a new legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., one of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyers,” according to the NYT.
Giuffra made a 100-slide presentation last month at the US Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington DC “outlining why prosecutors lacked basic evidence, as well as the jurisdiction even to bring the case,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.
It also claimed the legal team sweetened the deal with a promise of investing $10 billion in the US and creating 15,000 jobs.
The US markets regulator SEC had sued the Adani Group founder and his nephew Sagar in November 2024, alleging they misled investors by failing to disclose an alleged bribery scheme tied to Indian state officials, framing the case under US securities laws.
Denying all allegations, the two through their lawyers had filed a pre-motion letter ahead of a planned April 30 motion to dismiss in the Eastern District Court of New York.
In the plea, they said the SEC's claims over a 2021 bond sale by the group's renewable energy arm, Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) are legally flawed on multiple grounds.
