U.S. Justice Department Dismisses Bribery Case Against Gautam Adani

The United States Department of Justice dismissed a criminal fraud and bribery case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who was accused of agreeing to pay $265 million in bribes to Indian officials for a solar power project. Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter decided to drop the indictment, arguing that the case was primarily foreign in nature and that the U.S. should not act as the world police.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. informed a federal judge in New York that he would not dispute the dismissal. Nocella stated he was not the decisionmaker and deferred to the reasoning of his supervisor. McCotter further suggested that leadership under Joe Biden may have left a potential quagmire of a case.

While the criminal charges were dropped, Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani paid $18 million to resolve a case with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, Adani Enterprises paid $275 million to settle a Treasury Department probe. Nocella noted that he categorically rejected a previous proposal from Adani to invest $10 billion in the U.S. to resolve these legal matters.