Gautam Adani, nephew Sagar agree to settle SEC civil case for $18 million: Bribery case explained

Adani Green Energy said on Friday that its chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani have agreed to settle a civil complaint filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission by paying a combined $18 million in penalties.

The company said in an exchange filing that the SEC, Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani had jointly filed a request for entry of a final judgment by consent before the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The final judgment is awaited.

What is the SEC case?

In November 2024, the SEC filed a civil complaint against Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Green, and Sagar Adani, an executive director of the company.

The regulator alleged that the two orchestrated a scheme to pay or promise hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Indian government officials to secure agreements to purchase solar power at above-market rates.

According to the SEC, the alleged misconduct was concealed while Adani Green raised USD 750 million in a September 2021 bond offering, including approximately USD 175 million from US investors.

The SEC alleged that the bond offering documents contained materially false or misleading statements about the company's anti-corruption and anti-bribery controls.

What does the settlement provide for?

Under the proposed settlement, Gautam Adani will pay a civil penalty of $6 million, while Sagar Adani will pay $12 million, the filing said.

Both consented to the entry of final judgment without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC's civil complaint.

“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 USD 6.00 million and USD 12.00 million respectively by Mr. Gautam Adani and Mr. Sagar Adani,” the filing said.

Adani Green reiterated it is not a party to the proceedings and that no charges have been brought against the company.

What about the criminal case?

In a separate but parallel criminal case, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged Gautam Adani and others in November 2024, alleging they agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian officials to secure approvals for solar projects and then concealed the alleged misconduct while raising more than $3 billion from lenders and investors.

According to a New York Times report, the Justice Department is close to dropping the criminal fraud charges against Gautam Adani.

The reported reversal came Adani hired a new legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., one of US President Donald Trump’s personal lawyers.

The report claimed that Giuffra made an "unusual offer" to the Justice Department that Adani would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy and create 15,000 jobs if prosecutors dropped the charges.

To be sure, Adani had pledged after Trump's 2024 election victory to invest $10 billion in the United States and create 15,000 jobs.

Giuffra reportedly told Justice Department officials that the investment could not proceed while the criminal case remained pending.

Adani has yet to respond to the claims made in NYT report.