Prosecutors in the US are investigating whether Indian businessman Gautam Adani’s companies imported Iranian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) into India through the Adani Group’s Mundra port, despite US sanctions on Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
This comes at a time when the Trump administration is rolling back on the enforcement of certain white-collar crimes, including cases related to foreign bribery and sanctions evasion.
Tankers travelling between Mundra in Gujarat and the Persian Gulf exhibited traits common to ships evading sanctions, the WSJ report said. The US Justice Department is reviewing the activities of several LPG tankers used to ship cargoes to Adani Enterprises, it said.
In a statement, the Adani Group said the report was “baseless and mischievous”. “Adani categorically denies any deliberate engagement in sanctions evasion or trade involving Iranian-origin LPG. Further, we are not aware of any investigation by US authorities on this subject,” it said.
“The WSJ’s story appears to be based entirely on incorrect assumptions and speculation. Any suggestion that Adani Group entities are knowingly in contravention of US sanctions on Iran is strongly denied. Any assertion to the contrary would not only be slanderous but also deemed to be an intentional act to injure the reputation and interests of the Adani Group,” the statement said. “The rights of Adani Group entities and personnel in this regard are expressly reserved.”
Earlier, US President Donald Trump had warned that any country or person buying oil or petrochemicals from Iran would face immediate secondary sanctions, effectively barring them from doing business with the US. Trump made this statement in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, emphasising that such entities would not be allowed to engage in any form of business with the US.
This warning is apparently part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, aimed at completely shutting down the country’s oil exports. Trump accused Iran of financing militant groups and emphasised the need to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.
Story continues below this ad
His comments appear to be directed at China, which imports over 1 million barrels per day from Iran. But US sanctions are unlikely to impact Iranian oil flowing to China, unless the White House targets Beijing’s state-owned enterprises and infrastructure.
Trump has taken a tough stand on Iran, including pulling the US out of the nuclear agreement negotiated by former President Barack Obama. This move is consistent with his earlier decision to impose secondary tariffs on countries buying oil from Venezuela, another OPEC member. The implications of these sanctions and tariffs will likely have far-reaching consequences for the global oil market and US relations with key players like China and Iran.
The investigation into the Adani Group’s alleged import of Iranian LPG comes at a time when the US administration is easing enforcement of white-collar crimes. The rollback on the enforcement of certain types of white-collar crimes, including cases related to foreign bribery, public corruption, money laundering and crypto markets, came after Trump signed an executive order directing the US Justice Department to halt prosecuting Americans accused of bribing foreign officials to secure overseas business deals.
At the Justice Department, Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered prosecutors to focus their anti-money-laundering and sanctions-evasion attention on drug cartels and international crime organisations. It says the administration is effectively redefining what constitutes a crime in some business conduct cases. These decisions aim to provide relief to US citizens, but may also benefit companies and executives facing charges in US courts, like key executives of the Adani Group who are currently facing bribery charges.
Story continues below this ad
According to sources, the new policy could potentially provide relief to Azure Power — which had a contract (a build, operate and transfer deal) with an Adani Group firm for building a solar project that had come under the scanner for alleged bribery allegations — and, by extension, the Adani Group.