Fake guarantees, loan diversions: Anil Ambani faces ED heat in Rs.17,000 cr loan fraud case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani for questioning on August 5 in a money laundering case linked to bank loan fraud worth crores of rupees against his group companies. Debt-ridden Anil Ambani (66) has been asked to depose at the ED headquarters in Delhi. Some executives of his group companies have also been summoned over the next few days.
For the past few weeks, ED has been raiding many companies of Anil Ambani in the Yes Bank loan fraud case and for bribing bank officials and fake bank guarantee-related frauds, worth more than Rs.6,500 crore. Meanwhile, ED on Friday also continued a raid at an Anil Ambani-linked firm in Odisha for providing a fake bank guarantee of more than Rs.68 crore. The money laundering case is against a Bhubaneswar-based company named Biswal Tradelink and its directors. The ED case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from a November 2024 FIR of the Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW). ED officials said that the company was engaged in the activity of issuing “fake” bank guarantees against a commission of 8 percent.
They said a bank guarantee of Rs.68.2 crore submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power, was found to be “fake”. The company was formerly known as Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited.
It was found that the Odisha-based company was using an email domain–s-bi.co.in– instead of the original SBI.Co. In order to create a “facade” of genuineness that the communication is being sent by the State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender. The fake domain was used to send “forged” communication to SECI, impersonating the SBI.
The summons to Anil Ambani comes after the ED conducted searches at 35 premises of 50 companies and 25 people, including executives of his business group, last week. The searches, launched on July 24, went on for three days. The action pertains to alleged financial irregularities and collective loan “diversion” pegged at more than Rs.17,000 crore by multiple group companies of Anil Ambani, including Reliance Infrastructure (R Infra).
The agency found, on the basis of a SEBI report, that R Infra “diverted” funds disguised as inter-corporate deposits (ICDs) to Reliance Group companies through a company named CLE. It is alleged that R Infra did not disclose CLE as its “related party” to avoid approvals from shareholders and audit panels. Reliance Infra had an exposure of Rs.6,500 crore. The allegation that the diverted amount is Rs.10,000 crore only serves to sensationalise the magnitude and is not based on facts, the Reliance Group sources said.
The ED is also looking at allegations of illegal loan diversion of around Rs.3,000 crore, given by the Yes Bank to the group companies of Ambani between 2017-2019. The ED officials said, the agency has found that just before the loan was granted, Yes Bank promoters “received” money in their accounts. The agency is investigating this nexus of bribery and the loan.
The money laundering case stems from at least two CBI FIRs and reports shared by the National Housing Bank, SEBI, National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), and Bank of Baroda with the ED.
These reports indicate that there was a “well-planned and well-thought-out scheme” to divert or siphon off public money by cheating banks, shareholders, investors, and other public institutions.
The Union government had informed the Parliament recently that the State Bank of India has classified RCOM along with Ambani as ‘fraud’ and was also in the process of lodging a complaint with the CBI. A bank loan fraud of more than Rs.1,050 crore between RCOM and Canara Bank is also under the scanner of the ED, apart from some “undisclosed” foreign bank accounts and assets, the sources said. Reliance Mutual Fund is also stated to have invested Rs.2,850 crore in AT-1 bonds, and a “quid pro quo” is suspected here by the agency. Additional Tier 1 (AT-1) are perpetual bonds issued by banks to increase their capital base, and they are riskier than traditional bonds, having higher interest rates.
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Dirubhai Ambani & his Reliance empire irrespective of which son or daughter managing it is built on foundation of lies, frauds, stolen, theft, robberies & corruption of multitude things & of very high order