Gautam Adani says the US Securities and Exchange Commission fraud case against him should be dismissed, with his lawyers arguing that the Wall Street regulator’s case “fails” for several reasons.
Lawyers for the Indian billionaire and his nephew Sagar Adani said in a letter to a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday that they would seek to formally dismiss the case by the end of the month. The lawyers said the US SEC lacks the necessary jurisdiction over both individuals and the alleged misrepresentations underpinning the case are not actionable.
The SEC lawsuit, filed in November 2024, alleges that Adani violated US securities laws by making false and misleading representations about Adani Green Energy Ltd. In addition to the SEC’s civil complaint, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged Adani and others with allegedly helping run a $250 million bribery scheme to lock down solar-energy contracts in India.
Gautam Adani is the Chairman of Adani Group Group and Sagar Adani is the Executive Director of Adani Green Energy. Neither the group nor its corporate units were sued by the US SEC.
Both the criminal and US SEC cases were stalled against Adani in India. Adani Group has termed America’s allegations as “baseless”.
According to the US SEC’s 2024 lawsuit, Gautam Adani attempted to pay or promise bribes worth millions of dollars to induce Indian state officials to enter into contracts that Adani Green needed to develop India’s largest solar power plant project.
At the same time, he and his nephew falsely stated the company’s compliance with anti-bribery principles and laws in connection with a $750 million bond offering, the US SEC said.
An SEC spokesperson declined to comment on the letter from Adanis’ lawyers.
The lawyers argued that because US regulators could not bring a case against Adani for alleged violations of US anti-bribery claims, they “reinstated” it as securities fraud. Adani also disputes that “there is any credible evidence supporting the alleged bribery scheme,” the lawyers wrote.
The letter to the judge on Tuesday was signed by Gautam’s lawyers, led by Robert Giuffra Jr. at Sullivan & Cromwell, Sean Hecker at Hecker Fink and Timothy D. Sini at Nixon Peabody, also acting as counsel for Sagar Adani.
“Indeed, the complaint does not allege that Gautam Adani authorized the issuance of the bonds or otherwise personally directed any relevant conduct in the United States,” the lawyers said.
The lawyers said Tuesday they would file a formal motion to dismiss by April 30, but told U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garoufis in Brooklyn they would be willing to participate if he scheduled a pre-motion conference.
Later on Tuesday, the judge directed the parties in the case to consider scheduling.
Group flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd jumped as much as 11.5% in Mumbai on Wednesday, while nine other Adani shares also rose in trade. The day’s surge added about $11 billion to the group’s total market value.
