SEC suit against Gautam Adani paused due to US govt shutdown

The criminal case has not been affected by the shutdown. However, none of the defendants nor their lawyers have made an appearance in court

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit accusing Gautam Adani of violating securities laws has been paused because of the federal government shutdown.

US prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, indicted Adani in November, accusing India’s second-richest person of fraud and with helping drive a $250 million bribery scheme. The five-count indictment also accuses Gautam’s nephew, Sagar R. Adani, and Vneet S. Jaain, both executives at Adani Green Energy Ltd., of breaking federal laws.

The SEC filed a parallel suit alleging that Gautam and Sagar Adani violated US securities laws by making false and misleading representations about Adani Green Energy. Regulators said in an October 10 filing that the SEC lawyer assigned to the case is “unavailable to work on this matter” while on furlough because of the shutdown.

US Magistrate Judge James Cho on Wednesday granted the SEC’s request and asked the government to file a status report within 30 days after the shutdown concludes.

The criminal case has not been affected by the shutdown. However, none of the defendants nor their lawyers have made an appearance in court. In addition to Adani, his nephew and Jaain, prosecutors charged five men with conspiring to violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, over their roles in the scheme.

The Adani Group has called the US allegations “baseless.” In June, Gautam Adani said: “Despite all the noise, the facts are that no one from the Adani Group has been charged with violating the FCPA or conspiring to obstruct justice.”