New Delhi: The US Department of Justice is preparing to drop fraud and bribery charges against billionaire Gautam Adani, the New York Times reported on Thursday (May 14), citing sources. Bloomberg separately reported, also citing sources, that US authorities could formally announce the dismissal of the criminal charges as early as this week. It also said the Securities and Exchange Commission is moving towards resolving a parallel civil fraud case brought against Adani and several associates in November 2024.According to the New York Times report, Adani’s legal team, led by US lawyer Robert Giuffra Jr., recently met Justice Department officials in Washington and presented arguments that prosecutors lacked evidence and jurisdiction to proceed with the case. The newspaper cited a source who said the presentation ran to about 100 slides.The New York Times said Adani’s representatives indicated in one slide that the billionaire would be willing to invest USD 10 billion in the US and create around 15,000 jobs if, in the newspaper’s words, the “prosecutors dropped the charges”. The report said prosecutors later told Guiffra the proposal would not influence the outcome of the case, though one senior official had “a favourable response” to the offer during the meeting.Giuffra has also represented US President Donald Trump.Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn had earlier alleged that Adani and other defendants orchestrated an “elaborate” USD 250 million bribery scheme linked to solar power contracts in India. Prosecutors claimed the alleged payments to Indian officials were concealed while the group sought funding from American investors.In the parallel civil case, the SEC alleged that Adani and others paid or promised bribes to Indian officials linked to the same project, a large solar power venture being developed by Adani Green.The Adani Group has denied the allegations. Gautam and Sagar Adani have moved a federal court in Brooklyn asking the SEC case to be dismissed.Bloomberg reported that none of the defendants, including Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, have appeared in court in connection with the charges and that the case had effectively stalled. In February 2025, the SEC had reportedly sought the intervention of India’s ministry of law and justice to deliver a summons to the Adanis, which still ran into delays.Earlier this year, Adani’s lawyers are said to have argued in court filings that US regulators lacked jurisdiction over the matter.