A US judge on Monday dismissed criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, after the Justice Department said it had decided to abandon the fraud and bribery case.
Before approving a rare request by federal prosecutors to drop the case, US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis asked why they wanted to do so. Mr Garaufis also asked Mr Adani whether anything had been promised in exchange for dropping the case.
US federal prosecutors alleged in November 2024 that Mr Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, had promised to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to win solar energy contracts, which were expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years.
They also allegedly concealed the plan as they sought to raise money from US investors.
Before the charges were unsealed, Mr Adani had promised to invest $10 billion in the US.
Adani Group has consistently denied wrongdoing. On May 18, the Justice Department announced it would no longer pursue the case.
Mr Adani is one of the world's richest people, with his net worth believed to be about $90 billion. His company, Adani Group, is focused on developing and managing infrastructure projects around the world.
Legal experts say US judges have little discretion to compel prosecutors to continue with criminal cases they no longer wish to pursue, but the charges cannot be formally dismissed without a judge's approval.
Mr Garaufis asked the Justice Department to justify its decision to drop the charges, writing that its "bland and conclusory" announcement did not give him enough information.
In a July 4 court filing, Trent McCotter, a senior Justice Department official, said the case was primarily foreign, hard to prove and inconsistent with the agency's current priorities.
Mr McCotter in the filing also denied what he called media stories suggesting he sought to dismiss the case in part because of a promise by Mr Adani to invest money in the US.
In response, Mr Garaufis asked Mr Adani whether he was "aware of any agreement exchanging anything for the dismissal of the indictment".
A sworn declaration filed in court on July 15 showed that Mr Adani said he was not aware of any such agreement.
He acknowledged having previously promised to invest $10 billion in the US and said his lawyers told the Justice Department in meetings that the pledge "might be part of a resolution of these matters".
Robert Giuffra, a lawyer for Mr Adani, said in a July 15 court filing that the Justice Department had told him it would not consider the Adani Group's willingness to invest in the US as part of any resolution.
The US Treasury Department in May also announced it had reached a $275 million settlement with Adani Enterprises over apparent breaches of sanctions against Iran.
