Billionaire Gautam Adani and nephew agree to pay $18 million in SEC settlement over fraud allegations
Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, at the opening ceremony of Navi Mumbai International Airport in Navi Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, October 8, 2025.
Indranil Aditya | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requested court approval for the deal on Thursday. civil lawsuit Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani were sued for allegedly misleading investors.
According to the agreement, Gautam Adani will pay a fine of $6 million and Sagar Adani will pay a fine of $12 million.
Both men agreed to “let the final decision be made” without admitting or denying Indian renewable energy company Adani Green said in a filing to Indian stock exchanges that the allegations made in the civil complaint and the payment of penalties led to this situation.
The company added that it was not part of these cases and “no charges have been filed against it.”
SEC’s Civil complaint against Gautam and Sagar Adani, along with Azure Power Global executives, focused on bribery allegations linked to solar contracts awarded by the Indian government.
According to multiple media reports, the US Department of Justice will also likely drop fraud charges against Adani.
A New York federal court indicted Gautam Adani and seven others in November 2024 on charges related to alleged bribery and fraud.
Prosecutors, defendants Paid more than $250 million He bribed Indian government officials, manipulated investors and banks into raising 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 Brooklyn federal court because the fundraising efforts occurred in the United States.
Adani Group has rejected the allegations made by US officials, calling them “baseless”.
At a meeting at the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington last month, Adani’s Robert J. Giuffra Jr. legal team led by prosecutors lacked “basic evidence” According to a report published by the New York Times on Thursday.
The report stated that the Indian businessman proposed to invest $10 billion in the US economy and create jobs for 15,000 people.
Earlier this year, the SEC asked U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn for permission to serve legal subpoenas on Adani after India’s Department of Law and Justice twice refused to serve subpoenas last year.
Gautam Adani, chairman of India’s Adani Group, runs a sprawling business empire spanning ports, energy and infrastructure. The conglomerate consists of 11 publicly traded companies, and the Adani family holds significant majority stakes in most of them.
The group has also faced scrutiny since a 2023 report by short seller Hindenburg Research accusing it of accounting fraud and stock manipulation. Adani Group has repeatedly denied the allegations.
