Adani Reps in Talks With Trump Officials To Dismiss US Bribery Charges: Report
Representatives of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and his business conglomerate have engaged with officials from US President Donald Trump’s administration to have criminal bribery charges against him dropped, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
According to the report, the discussions began earlier this year and have intensified in recent weeks, potentially leading to a resolution within the coming month if progress continues at the current pace.
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The talks follow a November indictment by US authorities, which accused Gautam Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani, of paying bribes to Indian officials to secure power supply contracts and misleading US investors during fund raises.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had also summoned the Adanis, citing millions of dollars in alleged bribes and false representations of anti-bribery compliance during a $750 million bond offering by Adani Green Energy.
According to Bloomberg, Adani’s team is attempting to frame the case as misaligned with Trump-era enforcement priorities and are urging reconsideration of the prosecution.
When contacted, representatives of the Adani Group, the US Department of Justice, and the White House all declined to comment to Bloomberg. They also did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
In late March, Adani Green Energy stated that an internal review of the US indictment revealed no instances of non-compliance or irregularities.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has accused Pranav Adani, director in multiple Adani Group companies and nephew of Gautam Adani, of violating insider trading laws, according to Reuters. Issued last year, the SEBI notice alleged that Pranav Adani shared unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI) regarding Adani Green’s 2021 acquisition of SoftBank-backed SB Energy Holdings with his brother-in-law Kunal Shah before the deal was made public.
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The Bribery Case
In its indictment, the SEC said that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and six others paid $265 million in bribes to Indian state government officials between 2020 and 2024 to secure lucrative solar power contracts that projected to yield $2 billion in profits over two decades.
The SEC also accused Adani Green Energy Ltd of raising $2 billion from American and foreign investors based on false statements. The Department of Justice (DoJ) accused the company of concealing ongoing bribery allegations while raising funds from American investors and thus violating the US Securities Act.
