WASHINGTON — The US Justice Department announced on Tuesday that an $18 million civil penalty is the appropriate legal remedy for a foreign industrialist accused of orchestrating $265 million in bribes, provided the accused retains the correct legal counsel and promises enough domestic capital.

Prosecutors confirmed they are dropping all criminal securities and wire fraud charges against conglomerate chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar, who will pay $6 million and $12 million respectively to settle the civil suit without admitting any wrongdoing. The resolution effectively clears a major legal overhang that had frozen the group out of international capital markets.

"After a thorough review of the defendant's new legal representation and his recent $10 billion investment pledge, we determined that pursuing criminal charges is no longer necessary," a department spokesperson said. The settlement follows a crucial period during which the accused hired Robert Giuffra Jr., the president's personal attorney, and the administration formally suspended the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in March 2025.

Corporate governance experts praised the resulting 14.7-to-1 ratio of alleged bribes to civil penalties, calling the $18 million payout a highly efficient cost of doing business.

Meanwhile, Indian market regulators at SEBI expressed relief over the US settlement, noting it officially relieves them of the pressure to investigate the $265 million allegedly distributed to Indian government officials—an inquiry they had successfully avoided starting.