A U.S. judge dismissed on Monday a case against Indian billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani after the Trump administration decided to drop the fraud and bribery allegations against him brought to light in 2024.
Court filings showed Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis formally rubber-stamped a May request by prosecutors to throw out the 2024 allegations that Adani participated in a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials for lucrative solar energy supply contracts.
U.S. media had reported that Adani's attorney Robert Giuffra, who is also Donald Trump's personal lawyer, told Justice Department (DOJ) officials in April that if charges were dropped, the magnate would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy.
The judge in the case had previously asked if the reported investment pledge was a factor in the U.S. government's decision to drop the case, a rare move in the federal legal system, but ultimately concluded it was not part of prosecutorial decision-making.
Garaufis was, however, scornful of the way in which Trump-appointed Deputy Associate Attorney General Trent McCotter went about having the case dismissed.
