Billionaire Gautam Adani and nephew agree to pay $18 million in SEC settlement over fraud allegations

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday sought court approval for a settlement in its civil lawsuit against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani, over allegations they misled investors.

Under the settlement, Gautam Adani will pay a $6 million penalty, while Sagar Adani will pay $12 million.

Both men have consented to “entry of the final judgment without admitting or denying the allegations made in the civil complaint,” and payment of penalties, Indian renewable energy firm Adani Green said in a filing to the Indian stock exchanges.

The company added that it is not part of these proceedings and “no charges have been brought against it.”

The SEC’s civil complaint against Gautam and Sagar Adani, along with executives at Azure Power Global, centered on allegations of bribery tied to solar energy contracts awarded by India’s government.

The U.S. Justice Department will also likely drop the criminal fraud charges against Adani, according to multiple media reports.

A New York federal court indicted Gautam Adani and seven others in November 2024 on criminal charges related to an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

Prosecutors alleged that the defendants paid more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, misled investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and obstructed justice, according to court documents.

Although the alleged conduct at the center of the indictment occurred in India, the defendants were charged in the Brooklyn federal court because the fundraising efforts happened in the U.S.

The Adani Group has denied the allegations made by U.S. authorities, calling them “baseless.”

In a meeting at the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington last month, Adani’s legal team, led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., argued that prosecutors lacked “basic evidence,” according to a report by the New York Times on Thursday.

The Indian businessman had offered to invest $10 billion in the U.S. economy and create 15,000 jobs, the report added.

Earlier this year, the SEC sought permission from U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn to serve a legal summons on Adani after India’s Law and Justice ministry twice refused to deliver it last year.

Gautam Adani, chair of India’s Adani Group, oversees a sprawling business empire spanning ports, power and infrastructure. The conglomerate comprises 11 publicly traded companies, with the Adani family holding significant majority stakes in many of them.

The group has also faced scrutiny since a 2023 report by short seller Hindenburg Research, which accused it of accounting fraud and stock manipulation. The Adani Group has repeatedly denied the allegations.