Indian tycoon Gautam Adani agrees to pay US$6 million to settle SEC fraud case
Multiple agencies could soon drop charges against Asia’s richest person and resolve investigations into his company
Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar agreed to pay a total of US$18 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations they made false and misleading representations about Adani Green Energy.
Gautam Adani would pay US$6 million and Sagar would pay US$12 million to end the SEC’s November 2024 lawsuit, under the proposed agreement filed in federal court on Thursday, which still needs a judge’s approval.
Gautam Adani and Sagar agreed to the “payment of a civil penalty” totalling US$18 million, while noting that it came “without admitting or denying the allegations made in the civil complaint”, a letter from Adani Green Energy to the Mumbai stock exchange read.
If finalised, the deal could be a significant boon to the Adani Group, the multinational conglomerate whose interests range from renewable energy to airports. The US Justice Department is also moving to drop fraud charges against Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest person, in a parallel criminal case.
Such a move, in addition to an SEC settlement, could clear the decks for the conglomerate to return to international capital markets and resume its aggressive expansion strategy.
The SEC alleged that Gautam Adani spearheaded an effort to pay or promise hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Indian officials to induce them to enter contracts that Adani Green needed to develop India’s largest solar power plant project.
At the same time, the regulator said he and his nephew falsely touted the company’s compliance with anti-bribery principles and laws in connection with a US$750 million bond offering.