Gautam Adani to file affidavit in US court this week
Billionaire Gautam Adani will file this week a sworn affidavit in a US federal court stating whether he is aware of any promise, agreement or benefit linked to the US government’s decision to dismiss a criminal indictment against him.
US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis directed Adani to file the affidavit by July 15 before ruling on the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the indictment with prejudice.
The judge asked Adani to state whether he is aware of any promise, offer, agreement or benefit connected to the dismissal, or of any exchange made in return for the charges being dropped.
Sources said Adani is likely to file the affidavit this week.
The Adani group did not offer any comment on the issue, saying the matter is sub judice.
The order of June followed a filing by Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General in the Department of Justice, R Trent McCotter, who said he was the “final and sole decision-maker” behind the dismissal and denied media reports that the decision was linked to Adani Group’s plans to invest about USD 10 billion in the United States.
“The current or former Department attorneys... have suggested that I sought dismissal of the securities charges at least in part because of some promise by those defendants to invest money in the United States. That is false,” McCotter wrote.
“I would have sought dismissal of the securities charges regardless of any mentions of investments,” he added.
“The mention of potential investments could not have played any role.”
McCotter said he decided to seek dismissal because the securities fraud case was legally “indefensible”, arguing that most of the alleged conduct occurred in India, Indian authorities had investigated the matter and found no actionable misconduct, investors suffered no losses, key evidence and witnesses were outside the United States, and the defendants were unlikely to appear before a US court.
He also said the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act charges no longer aligned with the Trump administration’s enforcement priorities, which focus on cases involving US national security, American companies or transnational criminal organisations.
“The decision to seek dismissal was not a close call,” McCotter wrote, adding that the FCPA charges “should have been dismissed a year ago”.
Garaufis, however, said McCotter’s filing introduced, “for the first time”, the possibility that some form of agreement involving one or more defendants may have existed in connection with the dismissal, even though no such arrangement had been disclosed to the court.
The judge noted that Adani’s lawyers had previously explained why the defendants consented to the government’s motion to dismiss but made no reference to any agreement, including one involving a commitment to invest in the United States.
Before granting the government’s request under Rule 48 (a), the court said it must be satisfied that the Justice Department’s stated reasons are genuine and that no undisclosed agreement influenced its decision.
The Justice Department moved to dismiss charges brought in 2024 under the Biden administration, accusing Adani and seven others of participating in a scheme to pay about USD 250 million in bribes to Indian officials to secure power supply contracts and misleading investors while raising capital from US markets. Adani has denied the allegations.
