Gautam Adani, the Chairman of Adani Group, will pay $18 million to settle a civil fraud case filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The case relates to falsely promoting the company’s compliance with anti-bribery laws in connection with a $750 million bond offering.
Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani have agreed to pay a combined $18 million to settle SEC allegations related to misleading statements of Adani Green Energy. Under the proposed settlement filed in a federal court, the Adani Group Chairman will pay $6 million, and Sagar Adani will pay $12 million.
“Mr Gautam Adani and Mr Sagar Adani have consented to inter alia entry of the final judgment without admitting or denying the allegations made in the civil complaint and payment of a civil penalty of $6 million and $12 million respectively,” Adani Green Energy said in an exchange filing.
SEC settlement is subject to court approval, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is also moving towards dropping parallel criminal fraud charges against Adani, as per the reports.
The charges were announced in November 2024 when the prosecutors alleged that Adanis, and several others participated in a bribery scheme involving about $265 million in payments to Indian government officials.
The bribes were allegedly made to secure contracts expected to generate nearly $2 billion in profits over two decades for a major solar power project.
In 2024, SEC had sued Adani Group accusing Gautam Adani of leading efforts to pay or promise bribes to Indian officials to secure contracts for a solar power project.
Later in April, Gautam and Sagar Adani formally moved to dismiss the SEC lawsuit in a US court.