US SEC seeks alternative pathway to advance stalled Adani fraud case

By Patricia Hurtado and Tom Schoenberg

 

After failing to serve Gautam Adani with a legal summons for more than a year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission wants a judge to clear a way for the agency to advance with its fraud case against the Indian billionaire.  

The SEC asked US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday to let it use alternative measures to ensure that Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani — who both reside in India — are formally made aware of the legal action against them. Generally, such litigation can’t proceed in the US until the defendants have been properly served with the complaint.

 

 

The US regulator has said it’s repeatedly tried in vain to get assistance from India’s government to deliver the summons. Unsuccessful in its efforts, the SEC said it wants to formally notify the Adanis of its lawsuit via email and through Gautam’s US-based lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and counsel at Hecker Fink, which the agency says is representing Sagar. 

 

The SEC declined to comment beyond the court filings. An Adani representative did not offer any immediate comment. India’s Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of External Affairs didn’t respond to an email sent after office hours seeking comments.

 

A spokesperson for Quinn Emanuel declined comment. Neither Kirkland & Ellis nor Hecker Fink immediately responded to a request for comment. 

 

The SEC’s lawsuit, filed in November 2024, alleges that Gautam and Sagar Adani violated US securities laws by making false and misleading representations about Adani Green Energy Ltd. 

 

In addition to the SEC’s civil complaint, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged the Adanis, accusing India’s second-richest person and others of helping drive a $250 million bribery scheme in India to lock in solar-power contracts.

 

For the past year, Gautam Adani has been using diplomatic and other channels in an effort to have the cases against him and his nephew resolved, Bloomberg News has reported. 

 

Kirkland & Ellis and Quinn Emanuel have filed registrations with the US Congress to lobby the government on behalf of Adani Green on energy issues and related criminal and civil matters.

 

Gautam Adani’s representatives have tried to make the case that his prosecution doesn’t align with President Donald Trump’s priorities and should be reconsidered, Bloomberg reported in May. Those attempts hit a snag as the US and India clashed on issues like trade, Russian oil and India’s conflict with Pakistan.

 

The criminal case has remained dormant with no filings in more than a year and no appearance from legal counsel on the Adanis’ behalf. 

 

The Adani Group has called the US allegations “baseless.” In June, Gautam Adani said that “despite all the noise,” no one from the Adani Group was charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or conspiring to obstruct justice.