The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission arranged for Gautam Adani to be served with a civil lawsuit alleging fraud, allowing the regulator's case against India’s second richest person to continue.

In a Friday filing in Brooklyn, New York, federal court, Adani's lawyers and the SEC agreed to accept legal documents from the SEC, eliminating the need for U.S. district judge Nicholas Garaufis deciding how to serve the defendants.

The?Adanis has 90 days from the date the judge signs the resolution to respond to SEC's complaints, which may include a request for dismissal.

Robert Giuffra is an attorney for Gautam Adiani. He declined to comment. Sean Hecker, an attorney for Sagar Adani also declined to make a comment.

The SEC accused the Adanis of violating U.S. Securities Law in November 2024 by orchestrating a plan to pay or offer to pay hundreds millions of dollars?in bribes for Indian government officials, to benefit Adani Green Energy where both Adanis are executive and director.

The SEC reported that it was difficult to serve legal papers on both defendants, who are in India.

In November 2024, U.S. prosecutors brought a criminal case against the Adanis as well as several other defendants. Since more than a calendar year, there have been no developments in the case. For most of this time, the SEC's case had been stagnant.

Gautam Adani is 63 years old and founded the Adani Group. Forbes magazine estimates his net worth at $59 billion. (Reporting and editing by Hugh Lawson; Jonathan Stempel)

(source: Reuters)