NEW DELHI: Intensifying its crackdown on industrialist Anil Ambani, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered another criminal case against him, Reliance Communications Limited (RCom), and a former company director in connection with an alleged bank fraud involving more than Rs 1,085 crore.
The federal agency registered the case on March 5 following a complaint filed by Punjab National Bank (PNB), which accused the borrowers of cheating two public sector lenders between 2013 and 2017.
According to the complaint, the alleged fraud caused a combined loss of about Rs 1,085.19 crore to PNB and United Bank of India, which has since merged with PNB. The accused allegedly conspired to secure credit facilities for Reliance Communications and later diverted or misused the loan funds.
The case names Ambani, Reliance Communications Limited, and its former director, Manjari Ashok Kacker, as accused.
According to the FIR, the alleged loss includes Rs 621.39 crore to Punjab National Bank and Rs 463.80 crore to United Bank of India.
The agency suspects that the borrowers obtained loans from the banks and subsequently violated loan conditions and financial discipline, leading to the accounts being classified as non-performing assets.
The loan accounts were declared NPAs in 2017 after the borrower allegedly failed to adhere to the terms of the credit facilities.
Bank officials later classified the accounts as fraudulent in February 2021 following findings from a forensic audit conducted by BDO India LLP.
On March 6, ED the Enforcement Directorate had carried out raids at multiple locations in Mumbai and Hyderabad against entities linked to industrialist Anil Ambani's Reliance Power Limited, the agency said.
The agency carried out raids at around 10–12 premises linked to the company and its executives are being searched across the two cities. About 15 teams of the agency are involved in the operation, the officials added.
The agency is probing multiple companies linked to Ambani in connection with an alleged bank fraud-linked money laundering case, as well as suspected financial irregularities under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
However, Reliance Power Limited in a statement said, “…in reference to various media reports alleging that the Enforcement Directorate has conducted raids at locations linked to Reliance Power Limited. In this regard, the Company would like to clarify that, to the best of its knowledge, no such action has been carried out at any of the offices or premises of the Company.”
Ambani, 66, has already been questioned twice by the ED under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as part of the investigation.
ED's earlier provisional attachment of Ambani's luxury Mumbai residence 'Abode' at Pali Hill, valued at over Rs 3,716 crore. 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.