Gautam Adani, the billionaire founder and chairman of the Adani Group and one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, and his nephew Sagar Adani, Executive Director of Adani Green Energy Ltd., have agreed to pay a combined $18 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that they made false and misleading statements in connection with a $750 million bond offering by Adani Green Energy in September 2021. Gautam will pay $6 million and Sagar will pay $12 million, subject to court approval by U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in the Eastern District of New York.
The SEC’s complaint, filed November 20, 2024, alleged that the two men orchestrated a scheme to pay or promise the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Indian government officials in exchange for commitments to purchase solar energy at above-market rates, benefiting Adani Green, and then falsely touted the company’s anti-bribery compliance in the 2021 bond offering that raised more than $175 million from U.S. investors. Neither man admits or denies the allegations. Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is also moving to drop related criminal fraud charges against Gautam Adani in a parallel case, a development that could reopen access to international capital markets for the Adani Group. The proposed settlement was filed on May 14, 2026, New York time.
The SEC Alleged a $265M Bribery Scheme to Win India’s Largest Solar Power Contract
The SEC’s original complaint named Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and six other individuals in a scheme the agency described as involving payments or promises of up to $265 million in bribes to officials of Indian state electricity distribution companies. The purpose of those payments, the complaint alleged, was to induce the state utilities to enter into long-term solar energy supply contracts with Adani Green at above-market rates. The contracts were essential to the viability of what was being developed as India’s largest solar power project, located in Khavda in the Kutch district of Gujarat.
While this alleged bribery scheme was ongoing, Gautam and Sagar Adani approached U.S. capital markets in September 2021 with a $750 million bond offering for Adani Green Energy. The offering materials included statements about the company’s commitment to anti-corruption and anti-bribery principles. The SEC found those statements were materially false or misleading in light of the ongoing bribery scheme. Adani Green raised more than $175 million from U.S. investors in that offering. Under the SEC’s complaint, the false anti-bribery statements in a bond offering to U.S. investors gave U.S. courts jurisdiction over conduct that was otherwise centered in India.
India Twice Refused to Deliver the SEC’s Summons, Stalling the Case for Over a Year
The case faced an unusual jurisdictional challenge from the outset. Because both Gautam and Sagar Adani reside in India and the Adani Group denied the U.S. allegations, the SEC faced the practical problem of formally serving its summons under Indian law. India’s Ministry of Law and Justice twice refused to deliver the summons on behalf of the SEC, citing procedural grounds. The case remained effectively stalled through most of 2025 as a result. In January 2026, the SEC moved the court for permission to serve the summons through alternative means. That motion caused Adani-related shares to fall sharply, erasing approximately $13 billion in market value in a single session.
Shortly after that market reaction, Gautam Adani retained Robert Giuffra Jr., co-chair of Sullivan and Cromwell and one of the most prominent U.S. defense attorneys, to lead his legal team. Giuffra appeared before Judge Garaufis in January 2026 and formally accepted the lawsuit on Gautam Adani’s behalf. U.S.-based lawyers separately agreed to accept formal notification for Sagar Adani. With service resolved, the case moved quickly toward resolution.
The DOJ Criminal Case May Also Be Dropped, Potentially Reopening Global Capital Markets to the Adani Group
The SEC civil case was filed simultaneously with a criminal indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice in November 2024. The criminal case, which stalled separately because of the defendants’ residence in India, is now reportedly being reconsidered. Bloomberg News reported on May 14, 2026 that the DOJ is moving to drop fraud charges against Gautam Adani in the related criminal proceeding. The New York Times separately reported that Adani had offered to invest $10 billion in the U.S. economy and create 15,000 jobs if the criminal charges were dropped, though prosecutors reportedly told his legal team that the investment pledge would not bear on the legal outcome of the case.
The combined resolution of the SEC civil case and a potential DOJ dismissal would have significant financial consequences for the Adani Group. Since the November 2024 charges, access to international debt and equity markets has been constrained as institutional investors, particularly in the United States and Europe, have withheld capital pending the outcome of the proceedings. Adani Green’s shares have recovered significantly — up approximately 41% year-to-date as of the settlement announcement — suggesting markets had already begun pricing in a favorable resolution. The proposed final judgments impose permanent injunctions against future violations of the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act and Exchange Act, in addition to the $18 million in combined civil penalties.
Adani Green Energy Is Not a Defendant and Has Stated No Charges Were Brought Against It
Adani Green Energy Ltd., the company at the center of the alleged bribery scheme and the issuer of the 2021 bond offering, was not named as a defendant in either the SEC civil case or the DOJ criminal indictment. Following the settlement announcement, the company filed with Indian stock exchanges stating that the proceedings involve only Gautam and Sagar Adani individually, that it is not a party to these proceedings, and that no charges have been brought against it. The company’s shares pared early losses and closed modestly higher after the settlement terms were reported.
Conclusion
The Adani bribery case began with a November 2024 indictment that briefly erased tens of billions in market value from one of Asia’s largest conglomerates. It ends — subject to court approval — with $18 million in civil penalties, permanent antifraud injunctions against two individuals, no charges against the company, no admission of wrongdoing, and a likely parallel dismissal of criminal charges. The $18 million represents a small fraction of the $175 million raised from U.S. investors in the 2021 bond offering, and an even smaller fraction of the alleged $265 million bribery scheme. What it closes is 18 months of legal uncertainty that constrained the Adani Group’s access to global capital at a critical moment in its expansion. The court must still approve the proposed judgments.
