Judge dismisses Gautam Adani criminal charges, chastises DOJ
by Darryl Coote · UPIAug. 11 (UPI) -- A federal judge has approved the Trump administration's request to dismiss criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani while chastising the Justice Department for its reasoning and methods for abandoning the high-profile case.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed with prejudice three fraud-related charges against Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, while reserving judgement on two conspiracy charges against five other defendants, asking the Justice Department for more information before deciding their dismissals.
The Justice Department charged Gautam Adani and the seven other defendants, all current or former executives of Adani Group or its subsidiary Adani Green Energy, in November 2024, alleging various defendants participated in schemes to pay $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure lucrative solar energy contracts, lied to U.S. and international investors to raise billions of dollars in financing and impede the investigations of three U.S. government entities.
The three alleged schemes were conducted between 2020 and 2024, according to the indictment.
In May, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter requested that the charges be dismissed, stating "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."
In response to Garaufis' demand that the Justice Department explain its motion to dismiss, McCotter said that the case is predominantly foreign, India has investigated the allegations and found no actionable misconduct, investors lost no money, there would be "extraordinary proof problems," the defendants would likely never appear before U.S. courts and the indictment was unsealed during the final days of the Biden administration in order to drop "a potential quagmire of a case into the lap" of the incoming Trump administration.
In his Monday order, Garaufis called the "irregularities" in McCotter's decision to dismiss the indictment "concerning" and said the principal associate deputy attorney general "appears to have eschewed the professional opinions of innumerable officials from various federal offices and replaced them with his singular judgment."
He said McCotter's decision, reached largely in collaboration with Adani's defense counsel and seemingly without input from those who investigated and brought the case, "evinces a lack of respect for the judiciary."
Garaufis also strongly rebuked McCotter for alleging the Biden administration's Justice Department unsealed the indictment during its final days to hinder the incoming Trump administration, stating he appears to be accusing officials from four different government agencies without providing "a scintilla of evidence" to show that the unsealing of the indictment was politically motivated.
"McCotter's baseless assertion is unbecoming of his office. It is also inconsistent with this court's experience," Garaufis said.
"The court has presided over innumerable cases brought by the SEC, the FBI, the department and the U.S. Attorney's Office over the last 26 years (and counting) and does not agree with McCotter's characterization of their integrity and motives."
His order also recounts several events involving Gautam Adani and President Donald Trump or his inner circle as he was being investigated and prosecuted, including congratulating Trump on Nov. 6, 2024, on winning re-election and announcing a commitment to invest $10 billion in the United States days later. The order also cites reporting that Gautam Adani and Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., held meetings as early as November 2025.
In a social media statement on Monday, Gautam Adani said he welcomed the court's decision "with humility and deep respect for the judicial process."
"Throughout this challenging period, our faith in truth, fairness and the rule of law remained unwavering," he said.
"We will continue doing what matters: building our nation, creating value that outlasts us and serving a purpose larger than ourselves. That is our commitment."
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