The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani for a second round of questioning. He was questioned for over five hours today, i.e., Tuesday afternoon, in connection with money laundering charges linked to Rs 17,000 crore in alleged bank loan frauds.
The Reliance Group boss has been asked to appear after a week.
Sources said the Enforcement Directorate today asked Mr Ambani about the alleged diversion of loans to shell companies, if any money was channelled to political parties, and if he had bribed officials.
Mr Ambani reportely told the federal agency he had no knowledge of several of the alleged fraudulent transactions and loan disbursals - that the ED believes were secured with bribes to senior officials from public and private sector banks - and asked for time to verify the details.
Anil Ambani, 66, was not allowed to have a lawyer present during the questioning, which was videotaped and will be accepted by courts as evidence if the matter goes to trial.
He was summoned after the ED spent three days searching 50 companies across 35 locations.
Sources said a 'large number of incriminating documents' was recovered, prompting the summons.
The agency then wrote to a dozen banks for details of due diligence followed for loans sanctioned to his companies, including Reliance Housing Finance and Reliance Communications.
NDTV Explains | Anil Ambani's Rs 17,000-Crore Loan Fraud Case. What Is It?
Details have been sought from the SBI and private banks like Axis, ICICI, and HDFC.
Specifically, the Enforcement Directorate sought details on the process followed for loan clearances, the timeline of default and recovery action that followed on such accounts, sources told NDTV.
The agency, sources also said, is checking if loans take by Reliance Group companies over the past decade were used for their sanctioned purpose or diverted to offshore accounts.
The Enforcement Directorate has claimed a "calculated scheme" to defraud banks, investors, shareholders, and public institutions by misusing loan funds, sources said.
... Rs 17,000 crore Loan Fraud Case
A preliminary investigation revealed that Rs 3,000 crore in loans from Yes Bank (dispersed between 2017 and 2019) were wrongfully diverted. A similar fraud - but much larger, i.e., over Rs 14,000 crore - was allegedly committed by Reliance Communications too, officials said.
The agency has alleged an illegal quid pro quo arrangement - wherein promoters of Yes Bank allegedly received payments in privately-held concerns just before sanctioning loans.
READ | Loan Transferred Even Before Approval In Anil Ambani Case: Sources
The investigation flagged instances of loans being issued to companies with poor or unverified financial sources, use of common directors and addresses, lack of essential documentation, routing of funds to shell entities and instances of 'loan evergreening', i.e., using fresh loans to repay older ones.
... Other Loan Fraud Cases
Mr Ambani also faces possible charges over a second set of alleged loan frauds, this time worth Rs 14,000 crore and linked to his flagship firm, Reliance Communications, or RCom.
In June the SBI declared the RCom loan account a 'fraud' and said it would report Mr Ambani - which it has not yet done - to the CBI. The bank claimed it had identified fund diversion, irregular accounting, and book manipulation through related RCom entities.
READ | Insurance To Housing, Anil Ambani's Troubles Worth Thousands Of Crores
The SBI said there were 'deviations' in how these loans were utilised, and that these 'deviations' involved 'complex web of fund movements across multiple group entities'.
READ | Anil Ambani: From 6th Richest In World To 'Fraud' Tag By State Bank
A law firm representing Mr Ambani responded to the State Bank's charge.
Once one of the world's richest men, Mr Ambani's one-time flourishing empire has crumbled under charges of frauds, fund diversions, forged guarantees, and defaults, in India and abroad.
That list of frauds and allegations include markets regulator SEBI ruling that Mr Ambani, with help from senior executives at Reliance Home Finance, siphoned off over Rs 5,000 crore by disguising them as loans to entities linked to him. He was fined Rs 25 crore and the company an additional Rs 6 lakh.
With input from agencies
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