Adani Group Stocks Rally Up To 11% After US Drops All Criminal Charges Against Gautam Adani

Adani Group Stocks: Shares of Adani Group companies gained up to 11 per cent on May 19 after the US Department of Justice moved to drop criminal fraud charges against billionaire Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, easing a major legal overhang on the conglomerate.

The group's flagship company Adani Enterprises surged as much as 3.15 per cent to Rs 2,774.50 apiece on the NSE. Adani Total Gas gained up to 4.24 per cent, Adani Green Energy rose up to 5.43 per cent. Likewise, other group stocks such as Adani Power, Adani Transmission, And Adani Ports also gained.

NDTV emerged as the top gainer, rallying as much as 11.30 per cent to Rs 82.88 apiece. The group's cement wings, ACC, Ambuja Cements, and Orient Cement were also in green.

US prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York requested the court to dismiss the indictment against the Adanis with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be reopened. The court subsequently ordered that the charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and others be dismissed permanently.

“The Department of Justice has reviewed this case and has decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources to these criminal charges against individual defendants,” the filing said.

The securities and wire fraud case in New York had accused the Adanis of misleading investors in relation to solar energy projects in India.

The development comes after multiple US investigations involving the Adani Group were resolved over the past few days.

Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled civil allegations related to disclosures made to investors in connection with the solar projects. Court filings showed Gautam Adani agreed to pay $6 million and Sagar Adani agreed to pay $12 million, without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

Separately, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) settled allegations related to Adani Group’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports involving Iran sanctions violations.

As part of the settlement, Adani Enterprises agreed to pay $275 million to resolve allegations linked to Iran-related LPG shipments. The flagship company also clarified that the settlement does not mean it admitted to any wrongdoing and that all related liabilities have now been resolved. It added that the US Treasury Department appreciated its cooperation and voluntary disclosures during the investigation.

The Adani Group has faced corporate governance concerns since short-seller Hindenburg Research released a report in 2023 alleging stock manipulation and misuse of offshore tax havens.

The alleged violations were related to Adani Enterprises importing LPG shipments that were presented as coming from Oman and Iraq, but US authorities believed the gas actually originated from Iran. Since Iran is under US sanctions, American rules restrict the use of the US financial system for such trade.

According to the US Treasury’s OFAC, the company made 32 “US dollar denominated payments” worth about $192 million through US banks for these shipments. OFAC said there were several “red flags” that should have alerted the company that the LPG may have been of Iranian origin.

The agency also said the company did not “voluntarily self-disclose” the suspected sanctions breaches and considered the matter an “egregious case,” meaning US authorities viewed the alleged violations as serious.