US SEC Faces Obstacles Serving Summons in Adani Bribery Case

US SEC Faces Obstacles Serving Summons in Adani Bribery Case

RMN News Report Highlights:

• The US SEC is facing significant challenges in serving summons to Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and the Adani Group in India regarding a bribery and fraud case, with documents remaining undelivered six months after assistance was requested from India’s Ministry of Law & Justice.
• A criminal indictment unsealed on November 20, 2024, charges Gautam S. Adani and others with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud, and substantive securities fraud, alleging they orchestrated a scheme to pay over $250 million (approximately Rs 2,029 crore) in bribes to Indian government officials.
• The defendants allegedly lied about the bribery scheme to raise capital from U.S. and international investors, securing over $2 billion in U.S. dollar-denominated syndicate loans and over $1 billion from Rule 144A bond offerings.
• Gautam Adani is identified as a close partner of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leading to concerns that Indian authorities may not act against Adani.

By Rakesh Raman
New Delhi | August 12, 2025

New York, USA / New Delhi, India – August 12, 2025 – The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) is reportedly facing significant challenges in serving summons to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and the Adani Group in India regarding a high-profile bribery case. Six months after the US SEC sought assistance from India’s Ministry of Law & Justice to deliver the documents as per an international treaty, the summons remain undelivered.

Adani-Modi Connection and Indian Response: Gautam Adani is described as a close partner of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and their alleged collusion in financial frauds has been termed “Modani crimes”. Concerns have been raised that Indian Supreme Court judges and law-enforcement officials “work as slaves of the tyrannical Modi regime,” implying they will not take action against Adani. 

It is also anticipated that the “publicity paraphernalia of Adani and the Modi regime will dismiss the court indictment,” and the Adani Group will “continue to commit financial and money laundering crimes with impunity”.

Allegations of Criminal Conspiracy and Bribery: On November 20, 2024, a five-count criminal indictment was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn, charging Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain, executives of an Indian renewable-energy company, with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud, and substantive securities fraud. 

The indictment also charges Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal (former executives of a U.S. Issuer), and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra (former employees of a Canadian institutional investor) with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with a bribery scheme. These charges relate to one of the world’s largest solar energy projects.

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace stated that the defendants allegedly orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars and then lied about it to raise capital from U.S. and international investors.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa H. Miller further detailed that the indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250 million (approximately Rs 2,029 crore) in bribes to Indian government officials and to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars. These offenses were allegedly committed by senior executives and directors to obtain and finance massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud.

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The Alleged Bribery Scheme

• Between approximately 2020 and 2024, the defendants allegedly agreed to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts, projected to generate over $2 billion in profits after tax.
• Gautam S. Adani reportedly personally met with an Indian government official on several occasions to advance the scheme.
• Defendants allegedly extensively documented their corrupt efforts, including tracking bribe details, photographing bribe summaries, and preparing analyses of bribe payment options.
• The US SEC alleged that the Adani Group did not disclose its “own involvement in a complex and high value bribery scheme” to U.S. investors.
• The indictment claims that Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain conspired to misrepresent the Indian Energy Company’s anti-bribery and corruption practices and conceal the Bribery Scheme from U.S. investors and international financial institutions to obtain financing. This included securing over $2 billion in U.S. dollar-denominated syndicate loans and over $1 billion from Rule 144A bond offerings marketed to investors in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Obstruction of Justice Allegations: The indictment also alleges that Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra, and Rupesh Agarwal conspired to obstruct grand jury, FBI, and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigations into the Bribery Scheme. They allegedly agreed to delete electronic materials, withheld information from an internal investigation, and falsely denied their participation to investigators.

Ongoing Efforts to Serve Summons: The US SEC has continued to communicate with India’s Ministry of Law & Justice and is pursuing service via the Hague Service Convention. The SEC’s recent filing on August 11, 2025 reiterated that Indian authorities have “not yet effected service,” despite the SEC also sending direct notices to the defendants and their counsel. In March, a report indicated that India’s law ministry had sent the summons to an Ahmedabad court for delivery to Adani, but this has not yet happened.

Defense Strategy and Investigation Details: In March, lawyers for the Adani Group were reportedly aiming to persuade their U.S. counterparts to “dismiss” the case, relying on the Donald Trump administration’s suspension of the FCPA in February. The investigation was conducted by the FBI New York’s Corporate, Securities and Commodities Fraud and International Corruption Units, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the SEC’s New York Regional and Boston Regional offices.

It is important to note that the charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.