Adani Group Chairperson Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani have agreed to accept a legal notice from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in an alleged $265 million bribery and fraud case, reported PTI on Sunday.
This would remove the need for a US judge to rule on how the industrialist should be served the legal notice, according to Reuters.
In November 2024, the US Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York indicted Gautam Adani in a $265 million bribery and fraud case.
The US Department of Justice had alleged that executives of the conglomerate participated in a scheme to bribe officials in India for solar energy contracts, then misrepresented the company’s anti-bribery practices to investors in the United States. The details of the alleged bribes were concealed to secure financing, the US Department of Justice claimed.
The Adani Group has denied the allegations and vowed legal action. In December, Gautam Adani blamed the press for what he described as “incorrect and reckless reporting” on the matter.
In a filing in the federal court in New York on Friday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission said its notice has been submitted for approval from the court concerned as part of a standard procedural step, according to PTI.
If the court agrees to the notice, Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani would have 90 days to respond to it. Following this, the US market regulator can file their opposition within 60 days. The defendants will have 45 days to respond to the opposition thereafter.
In August, the US Securities and Exchange Commission told a district court in New York that India is yet to deliver summons to Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani in the case. It added that it had asked India’s Ministry of Law for help in serving the complaint six months ago.
It said that it had sent notices and other documents on the summons directly to the defendants and their counsel, along with a communication about it to the ministry.
The US market regulator added that it would continue communicating with New Delhi and “pursue service of the defendants via the Hague Service Convention”.
Rule 5 (a) of the convention says that a central authority of the state can serve a document or shall arrange to have it served by an appropriate agency
While the indictment document outlines conspiracy to obstruct justice and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Adani and his executives were not charged with these counts.
However, the indictment document names Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Cyril Cabanes of Azure Power Global in what it describes as a “massive bribery scheme”.
On November 27, 2024, the Adani Group said in a stock exchange filing that Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani had been charged in the US for securities fraud, not bribery.
The charges had hurt the group’s market value, with shares falling by $54 billion at the time.
Also read:
What does US law say about Adani’s indictment – and can he be charged in India?
Adani US indictment: The Indian solar deals for which Rs 2,029 crore was allegedly paid in bribes
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