US prosecutors asked a judge on Monday to dismiss criminal fraud and conspiracy charges against Indian billionaire Gautaum Adani, who had been accused of duping investors in a major solar project in India.
Adani, one of the world’s richest people, was accused in 2024 of paying massive bribes to ensure the project’s success. He was charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud charges in connection with a lucrative arrangement for Adani Green Energy and another firm to sell 12 gigawatts of solar power to the Indian government to light millions of homes and businesses.
The Adani Group denied the allegations at the time, calling them baseless.
“The Department of Justice has reviewed this case and has decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources to these criminal charges against individual defendants,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis must still approve the request. Lawyers for Adani and his co-defendants consented to the request, prosecutors said.
Adani was never arrested in the case or brought to the US to face trial and some in India long expected the case would be shelved after US President Donald Trump last year suspended enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a US law banning business bribes overseas.
The move to drop the charges comes after the US Securities and Exchange Commission said it was settling a related lawsuit against Adani.
