By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Luc Cohen
WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Monday moved to dismiss criminal fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, while also settling alleged Iran sanctions violations involving one of his companies.
The resolution of outstanding cases against one of the world’s richest people came after Adani’s attorney, who is also a personal attorney of U.S. President Donald Trump, said last month his client wanted to invest $10 billion in the United States but could not do so while the cases proceeded, according to a source familiar with the matter.
It is the latest example of Trump’s Justice Department abandoning a high-profile case brought under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.
Adani has an estimated worth of $82 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Adani had been accused of agreeing to pay $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials so a subsidiary of Adani Group, Adani Green Energy, could win approval to develop India’s largest solar power plant, and then misleading U.S. investors by providing reassuring information about the company’s anti-corruption practices. Prosecutors said he and his alleged co-conspirators raised more than $3 billion by hiding their corruption from lenders and investors.
The Adani Group has consistently denied wrongdoing. Adani is the company’s founder and chairman.
Earlier on Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department said Adani Enterprises, part of Adani Group, had agreed to pay $275 million to resolve alleged sanctions violations, in which Adani Enterprises had bought shipments of liquefied petroleum gas from a Dubai-based trader purporting to supply Omani and Iraqi gas that had actually originated from Iran. Adani Enterprises has also ceased imports of LPG into India and created a head of compliance role to ensure it follows Treasury Department guidance.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission separately settled a civil lawsuit against Adani over an alleged scheme to bribe Indian government officials, court records showed last week, although the move is subject to court approval.
(Reporting by Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Susan Heavey; editing by Andy Sullivan, Michelle Nichols, Rod Nickel)
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