Gautam Adani heaved a sigh of relief as the US Department of Justice has given him and his nephew Sagar Adani the ‘clean chit’ against a civil lawsuit that accused him of paying bribes in India with US investor money. This
The Adani Group will be paying $18 million in penalties to settle the cases filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
This comes a week after the New York Times reported that the Adani’s have promised to invest $10 billion in the American economy and create 15,000 jobs, though further details haven’t been revealed.
The report further claimed that Mr Adani had hired President Trump’s personal defence lawyer, Robert Giuffra Jr, from the elite law firm Sullivan and Cromwell. Giuffra later met with the Justice Department and presented about 100 slides explaining why prosecutors lacked basic evidence to try Gautam Adani in the case.
The case to date
The case involving Gautam Adani had been filed in 2024 when Gautam Adani had been indicted for making false and misleading statements to investors who bought bonds in Adani Green Energy Limited. The lawsuit alleged that Adani re-routed funds to pay bribes amounting to almost $265 million to Indian officials, though the Adani Group denied the claims.
According to reports in January 2026, the SEC tried to issue summonses to Gautam and Sagar Adani through alternative means after failing to get a response.
The $10 Billion Promise
During the meeting with the Justice Department, Mr Giuffra reiterated the Adani Group’s pledge of investing $10 billion in the US, if the criminal cases were dropped. Mr Adani had himself promised the same when congratulating Trump on his election victory.
The prosecutors later said that the investment commitment will not play a role in the resolution of the case, though only one Justice Department official gave a favorable response.
For Mr Trump, this investment commitment was seen as a political and economic win, especially for his core constituency of white voters who have long resented the flood of imported goods and labour into their markets.
Similar Playbook?
Though Mr Adani may be relieved at the news, critics argue that this move is a case of shrewd political maneuvering, an old trick that has become far too common in India. Gautam Adani has been known to be close to PM Modi, and has used all his connections to wriggle out of the situation.
Was the $10 billion promised by Adani just an empty promise? Will this actually help Donald Trump placate his electorate with this promise? Or was this just another classic Indian jumla that every Indian hears during the election season? Only time will tell.
