US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. has told the court he has no basis to question the Justice Department's decision to drop the fraud and bribery case against Gautam Adani, though he stopped short of endorsing the move. In a letter to US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis on Friday, Nocella said he was 'not the decision-maker' behind dropping the case and had no basis to believe the reasons advanced by his supervisor Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General R Trent McCotter were not the 'real grounds' for dismissal. According to Business Standard, Judge Garaufis had asked Nocella to explain whether he agreed or disagreed with McCotter's reasons for dropping the Adani case, and whether there were other bases for doing so. Nocella's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Adani's lawyers also did not respond to similar requests.
In his affidavit, Adani categorically denied knowledge of any exchange connected to the decision. As reported by PTI, The Times of India, and Business Standard, he stated he was not aware of anything promised, offered, sought, received, agreed to, or accepted by anyone in connection with the dismissal. The affidavit also denied knowledge of any agreement involving an exchange of anything of value for dropping the criminal charges. Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General R Trent McCotter, who identified himself as the 'final and sole decision-maker' behind the Justice Department's move, rejected media reports linking the dismissal to investment commitments. 'The current or former Department attorneys...have suggested that I sought dismissal of the securities charges at least in part because of some promise by those defendants to invest money in the United States. That is false,' McCotter wrote, adding that he would have sought dismissal regardless of investment discussions. 'I would have sought dismissal of the securities charges regardless of any mentions of investments,' he added, emphasizing that 'The mention of potential investments could not have played any role.'
According to newly unsealed court filings, Adani's legal team at Sullivan & Cromwell delivered approximately 600 pages of legal submissions in a comprehensive defense campaign that ran from February 3 to April 17, 2026. The defense effort included a 118-page submission to prosecutors, a 12-page supplemental filing, and two slide presentations totalling 130 pages. A separate 151-page presentation was also submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in March. The filing provides the clearest public account yet of how federal prosecutors reversed course in one of the year's most closely watched corporate prosecutions. As reported by Business Standard, Robert J. Giuffra Jr, Adani's lead lawyer and co-chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, stated the team spent 'many thousands of hours' analyzing the government's theories before producing what they characterized as a comprehensive rebuttal.
The Justice Department had moved to dismiss charges filed in 2024 under the Biden administration. According to reports from PTI, The Times of India, and Business Standard, the charges accused Adani and seven others of participating in a scheme to pay about USD 265 million in bribes to Indian officials. The alleged scheme was designed to secure power supply contracts and mislead investors while raising capital in US markets. The indictment was announced in November 2024 and triggered a sharp sell-off in Adani Group stocks, wiping out nearly ₹2.85 lakh crore in market capitalisation over four trading sessions and affecting millions of shareholders. The case, unsealed during the final weeks of the Biden administration, remained largely dormant before the Department of Justice moved to dismiss the indictment on May 18, 2026.
Addressing speculation over Adani Group's proposed US investment plans, Adani said the group's intention to invest USD 10 billion in the United States had been publicly announced on November 13, 2024, before the indictment was unsealed. According to the affidavit reported by PTI, The Times of India, and Business Standard, Adani's legal counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, held meetings with officials from the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and submitted a white paper, expert reports and other materials. The counsel also indicated that the proposed investment could potentially form part of a resolution if US authorities chose to consider it. However, the Justice Department later informed counsel that the proposed investment would not be considered in deciding whether to seek dismissal, and Adani said the investment plan played no role in the department's decision. In a May 11 email made public on Wednesday, Nocella said he 'categorically rejected' tying a settlement to any investment, and resolving the SEC case was a separate matter. Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani agreed to pay $18 million to resolve the SEC case, while one of his companies, Adani Enterprises, agreed to pay $275 million to resolve a Treasury Department probe.
