Anil Ambani’s 17-storey residence worth Rs 3,716.83 crore in the posh Pali Hill in Mumbai was seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday over alleged bank fraud cases relating to Reliance Communications.
The investigative agency said that the total value of the attached assets linked to Anil Ambani's Reliance Group is now around Rs 15,700 crore.
The provisional attachment order had been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the 66-metre-high (216 foot) luxury property. “ED has provisionally attached the Pali Hill residential property ‘Abode’ of Anil Ambani in the Reliance Communications Ltd bank fraud case. Cumulative attachment of properties in the group now stands at over Rs 15,700 crore,” the agency said in a statement.
The agency had initiated a probe based on the CBI’s FIR against Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM), Anil Ambani, and others. RCOM and its group companies availed loans from domestic and foreign lenders of which a total amount of ₹40,185 crore is outstanding, the agency said.
“The ED investigation has revealed that among other assets, the Pali Hill property was aggregated into the RiseE Trust – a private family trust of the members of Anil Ambani’s family. This was done to make it appear as though Anil Ambani is not involved,” the agency said.
The agency said that the intended effect of this corporate restructuring was to ensure wealth preservation and resource generation by aggregation of the property in the RiseE trust and shield it from the personal liabilities of Anil Ambani in the form of personal guarantees extended by him to lender banks against the loans sanctioned to RCOM.
“The property was intended to be beneficially used and owned by Anil Ambani's family and not for the distressed public banks whose loans turned NPA,” the agency said, adding it is committed to safeguarding the financial system and protecting public funds by identifying and attaching assets involved in money laundering.
The case pertains to multiple alleged bank frauds by Anil Ambani's group companies Reliance Communications Limited (RCom), Reliance Commercial Finance Limited and Reliance Home Finance Limited.
According to the agency, during 2017--2019, Yes Bank invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL instruments. These turned into non‑performing investments by December 2019, with Rs 1,353.50 crore then outstanding for RHFL and Rs 1,984 crore for RCFL.
Besides, agency sources said RCom and its group companies availed loans from domestic and foreign lenders between 2010 and 2012, amounting to Rs 40,185 crore, of which five banks have declared the accounts as fraudulent.
In August last year, Anil Ambani was questioned in the ongoing money laundering case linked to the alleged multiple bank loan frauds involving his group companies.