Adani bribery case: Donald Trump halts FCPA enforcement, may offer relief to Gautam Adani, nephew

In what could potentially be a huge relief to Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order, directing the Department of Justice to stop enforcing the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a law that was used to launch the bribery investigation against the billionaire tycoon along with his nephew Sagar and others, news agency PTI has reported.

The law prohibits U.S. companies and foreign firms from bribing officials of foreign governments to obtain or retain business. The FCPA was at the heart of some of the U.S. Department of Justice's most high-profile cases.

The development follows several representations made to Trump on "questionable decisions" by the US DOJ under the previous Biden administration.

"The Attorney General to review guidelines and policies governing investigations and enforcement actions under the FCPA. During the review period (180 days), the Attorney General shall cease initiation of any new FCPA investigations or enforcement actions, unless the Attorney General determines that an individual exception should be made...review in detail all existing FCPA investigations or enforcement actions and take appropriate action with respect to such matters to restore proper bounds on FCPA enforcement and preserve Presidential foreign policy prerogatives," Trump's executive order reads.

On November 20, the United States Department of Justice (U.S. DoJ) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (U.S. SEC) issued a ‘criminal indictment’ and brought a civil complaint, respectively, against Gautam Adani and his nephew in a $250 million bribery case, which alleged the conglomerate bribed Indian officials in exchange of favourable terms for solar power contracts.

The U.S. DoJ also included Adani Green director Vneet Jaain in the criminal indictment. In its response to the alleged bribery case in the US, especially about the alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violation in the indictment, Adani Green Energy Ltd., which was at the centre of the controversy, had said the charges against its three directors, including the chairman, related to three counts of ‘criminal indictment’ but not ‘alleged FCPA violations’. The conglomerate Adani had called the charges "baseless", and also pledged to take legal action.

In the other action, the SEC charged Cyril Cabanes, a former member of Azure Power’s Board of Directors, with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations for his role in the alleged bribery scheme. According to the SEC’s complaint, Cabanes allegedly facilitated the authorisation of bribes in furtherance of the scheme while in the United States and abroad.

As part of the process, following Trump's order, past FCPA probes and enforcement actions "must be specifically authorised by the Attorney General". This means AG Pam Bondi will decide if such a probe is necessary, or if the President's intervention is required on the matter. In its response, Azure said the employees who were mentioned in the chargesheet had left the company more than a year before.

According to the news agency, some US Congressmen have also written to the new Attorney General alleging "questionable" decisions by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). In this, they have also highlighted the indictment of Adani and others, saying it'll hurt the US relations with India, which is its close ally.