Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani is scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday for questioning in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged bank loan fraud amounting to ₹17,000 crore.
The probe agency issued summons to Ambani on August 1, just days after conducting extensive searches on companies associated with him. Under the guidelines of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), these raids were conducted in Delhi and Mumbai over a minimum of three days. The searches focused on 25 people, including a number of Anil Ambani Group executives, and the locations of 50 businesses. The agency seized numerous documents and computer peripherals and questioned more than 25 individuals.
Sources familiar with the investigation said the ED has also written to multiple public and private banks to obtain details on loans sanctioned to Ambani's companies. The agency has sought information on the due diligence performed for loans given to Reliance Housing Finance, Reliance Communications, and Reliance Commercial Finance from a dozen banks, including the State Bank of India, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, UCO, and Punjab and Sind Bank.
The investigation is based on two First Information Reports (FIRs) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Preliminary findings revealed an illegal loan diversion of approximately ₹3,000 crore from Yes Bank between 2017 and 2019. Further investigation uncovered a larger loan fraud of over ₹14,000 crore committed by Reliance Communications Ltd.
According to ED sources, the investigation into the Yes Bank loans found that just before the loans were sanctioned, Yes Bank's promoters allegedly received money in their own concerns. The agency is now investigating this alleged 'bribe-for-loan' nexus.
Loans to businesses with dubious or unreliable financial sources, the use of the same directors and addresses by several borrowing entities, the absence of necessary documentation in sanction files, the transfer of funds to shell companies, and cases of 'loan evergreening,' in which new loans were given to pay back old ones, are just a few of the warning signs that the investigation has found.
Also Read: ED summons Anil Ambani in alleged loan fraud case
The ED made its first arrest in the case on August 1. Partha Sarathi Biswal, the managing director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd, was arrested under the PMLA for allegedly submitting fake guarantees worth ₹68.2 crore on behalf of Reliance Power. Additionally, a lookout circular has been issued against Anil Ambani.
In a statement to the stock exchanges on July 26, Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure acknowledged the raids but asserted that the action had "absolutely no impact" on their business operations, financial performance, shareholders, employees, or any other stakeholders.
This is not the first time the accounts of Reliance Communications and Ambani have faced scrutiny. Prior to filing a complaint with the CBI on January 5, 2021, the State Bank of India (SBI) had designated RCom and Ambani as 'fraud accounts' in November 2020. But after the Delhi High Court issued a status quo order, the complaint was later dropped.
Also Read: One arrested in Anil Ambani-linked ₹3,000-cr loan fraud case
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