- Adani Group stocks gained up to 11 percent on May 19.
- US prosecutors moved to drop fraud charges against Gautam Adani.
- The court dismissed the case permanently with prejudice.
- NDTV emerged as the top gainer among group companies.
- The Adani Group also settled separate US regulatory cases.
Shares of Adani Group companies climbed sharply on May 19 after the US Department of Justice moved to drop criminal fraud charges against billionaire Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani.
The decision removed a major legal concern hanging over the group and boosted investor confidence.
Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the group, rose as much as 3.15 percent to Rs 2,774.50 per share on the NSE.
Other listed Adani Group companies also gained during trading.
Adani Total Gas rose up to 4.24 percent, while Adani Green Energy gained as much as 5.43 percent.
Adani Power, Adani Transmission, and Adani Ports also traded higher.
NDTV became the top-performing stock among the group companies. Its shares surged up to 11.30 percent to Rs 82.88 apiece.
The group’s cement companies, including ACC, Ambuja Cements, and Orient Cement, also traded in the green.
According to reports, US prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York asked the court to dismiss the indictment against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and others with prejudice. This means the case cannot be reopened in the future.
The court later approved the request and permanently dismissed the charges.
“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 accused the Adanis of misleading investors regarding solar energy projects in India.
The latest development comes after several US investigations involving the Adani Group were resolved in recent days.
Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission settled civil allegations connected to investor disclosures linked to the solar projects.
Court filings showed that Gautam Adani agreed to pay $6 million, while Sagar Adani agreed to pay $12 million. Both settlements were made without admitting or denying wrongdoing.
Separately, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control settled allegations related to Adani Group’s liquefied petroleum gas imports connected to possible Iran sanctions violations.
As part of that settlement, Adani Enterprises agreed to pay $275 million to resolve allegations linked to Iran-related LPG shipments.
The company said the settlement did not mean it admitted wrongdoing. It also stated that all related liabilities had now been resolved.
Adani Enterprises added that the US Treasury Department appreciated the company’s cooperation and voluntary disclosures during the investigation.
The Adani Group has remained under pressure since 2023 after short-seller Hindenburg Research released a report accusing the conglomerate of stock manipulation and misuse of offshore tax havens.
The LPG-related allegations involved Adani Enterprises importing shipments that were described as coming from Oman and Iraq. However, US authorities believed the gas may have actually originated from Iran.
Because Iran is under US sanctions, American regulations restrict the use of the US financial system for such transactions.
According to the US Treasury’s OFAC, the company made 32 US dollar-denominated payments worth around $192 million through US banks for the shipments.
OFAC said there were several “red flags” that should have warned the company that the LPG may have been of Iranian origin.
The agency also stated that the company did not “voluntarily self-disclose” the suspected sanctions violations.
US authorities described the matter as an “egregious case,” meaning they viewed the alleged violations as serious.
