NEW YORK — The Justice Department moved to drop fraud charges against Indian businessman Gautam Adani. Following this development, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche regarding the decision.

Adani, the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, was indicted in 2024 in the U.S. Eastern District of New York. Federal prosecutors had accused Adani and others of defrauding U.S. investors and paying Indian government officials $250 million in bribes to win a bid to develop a solar power plant. The indictment projected that the associated contracts would generate $2 billion in profits over 20 years, and federal prosecutors alleged that the defendants obtained investor funds "on the basis of false and misleading statements."

A court filing submitted to U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis stated that the Justice Department would not devote further resources to the case, and the filing did not include signatures from the prosecutors originally assigned to the case. Judge Garaufis has not yet approved the request to drop the charges. Adani described the accusations against him as baseless, and the Adani Group denied the allegations.

Senators Warren and Blumenthal asserted that the Justice Department withdrew the charges after Adani hired attorney Robert Giuffra. The senators also requested information on whether Adani promised to invest $10 billion in the U.S. in exchange for dropped charges. The U.S. Senators stated, "The DOJ’s decision gives the appearance that Mr. Adani — with the help of one of the president’s personal lawyers — bought his way to criminal immunity, trading the promise of an investment in the United States for immunity from an alleged multi-billion dollar bribery scheme." They added that "Reports of an offer raised serious questions about corruption under President Trump and about the role that Mr. Adani’s politically salient offer played in the DOJ’s decision."

The senators requested information regarding any communication between the White House and the Justice Department about the case. They requested a response to their letter no later than June 25. In May, Adani and Sagar Adani agreed to pay $6 million to settle a civil fraud case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Treasury Department reached a $275 million settlement with Adani Enterprises Ltd. regarding violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran.