US Probing Adani Group Over Suspected Iran Petrochemical Imports, WSJ Reports

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02-06-2025

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US Probing Adani Group Over Suspected Iran Petrochemical Imports, WSJ Reports
The Wire Staff
10 minutes ago
The WSJ had earlier reported that Adani's lawyers had asked the US government to drop criminal charges accusing him of orchestrating over USD 250 million in bribes for solar energy contracts in India.
Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani addressing the Rising Northeast Investors Summit 2025, in New Delhi. Photo: PTI via X/@narendramodi
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New Delhi: The US Department of Justice is reportedly investigating whether the Adani group had imported Iranian petrochemical products from Iran, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, even as the conglomerate negotiates a settlement in a separate foreign bribery case.
Describing the allegations as 'baseless and mischievous', an Adani Group spokesperson denied any 'deliberate engagement in sanctions evasion or trade involving Iranian-origin LPG'. The Adani spokesperson also stated that it wasn't aware of any investigation by US authorities on this subject.
'The timing of the WSJ's story clearly betrays an intent to adversely influence the DoJ indictment against Adani,' the spokesperson added.
The Journal had previously reported on April 13 that lawyers representing Gautam Adani had asked the US Department of Justice to drop criminal charges accusing him of orchestrating over USD 250 million in bribes to secure solar energy contracts in India.
The charges, unsealed in October 2024, named Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and six other executives across three companies.
In a parallel civil case, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed complaints against Gautam and Sagar Adani for allegedly violating anti-fraud provisions of federal securities laws.
On May 5, Bloomberg reported that negotiations between Adani's legal team and officials from the Trump administration had intensified and could lead to a resolution 'in the coming month or so.'
The Journal 's June 2 report, citing sources, says US prosecutors are 'reviewing the activities of several LPG tankers used to ship cargoes to Adani Enterprises'.
The WSJ also did an investigation tracking a group of LPG tankers travelling between Gulf ports and Adani-operated Mundra port. It said they found allegedly tell-tale signs of ships attempting to obscure their activities, which includes manipulating the ship's automatic identification system, or AIS, which shares a ship's position.
'Purchasers of Iranian oil and gas products often use forged documents from Oman and Iraq, according to several people familiar with the trade,' the WSJ reported.
The report focuses on a Panama-flagged tanker, SMS Bros (renamed Neel), which according to AIS data was docked in Iraq's Khor al Zubair port on April 3. However, satellite images from the same day reportedly show no trace of the ship there. Instead, a vessel matching its profile was docked at an LPG terminal in Tonbak, Iran. Four days later, the tanker appeared off the UAE coast, with its data indicating it was riding lower in the water – suggesting it had taken on cargo.
Although the vessel broadcast an anchorage near Oman's Sohar port, it never appeared to dock there. Two days later, Adani Global PTE contracted the ship to load approximately 11,250 metric tons of LPG at Sohar and transport it to the Mundra port. Indian customs records from April 17 show Adani Enterprises imported a cargo matching the shipment's profile, valued just over USD 7 million.
The SMS Bros, a tanker renamed as Neel last year, has shown several discrepancies in its shipping records, with a Bangladeshi port document from June indicating a delivery of Iranian-origin LPG for an unidentified importer, even as its AIS data pointed to a journey to Iraq – similar to a pattern observed in April, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Three other LPG tankers linked to Adani's Mundra port also show signs of obfuscation. One, operated by the same company that managed the Neel, exhibited similar spoofing behaviour and appeared on a US Senate watchlist of vessels suspected of transporting Iranian oil and gas. Another broadcast a port call in Khor al Zubair not visible in satellite imagery, while a fourth – frequently docking at Mundra – was named in a 2024 US Energy Department report for exporting Iranian petroleum
Adani Group strongly refuted the Wall Street Journal report, calling the LPG segment 'operationally non-material,' accounting for just 1.46% of Adani Enterprises' consolidated revenue of over $11.7 billion in financial year 2024–25. It maintained that all LPG trade conducted by Adani entities complies with domestic and international laws, including US sanctions regulations.
The group said it purchases LPG through contracts with reputed international suppliers, undertakes due diligence to ensure none are on the OFAC sanctions list, and uses third-party logistics firms to handle shipping in line with global compliance norms.
Responding specifically to the shipment cited in the Journal report, Adani said it was a routine commercial transaction managed by third-party logistics partners, with documentation showing Sohar, Oman, as the port of origin.
'We do not own, operate or track vessels (including the alleged SMS Bros/Neel) and cannot comment on the current or past activity of vessels we have not contracted and do not control,' the group said, adding that all responsibilities of a bona fide importer had been fulfilled.
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