The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it has attached fresh assets worth more than Rs 1,452 crore in connection with the bank fraud cases against businessman Anil Ambani's Reliance Group.
A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach multiple buildings located in the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) and Millennium Business Park, Navi Mumbai, along with land plots and buildings in Pune, Chennai, and Bhubaneshwar.
This latest action takes the cumulative value of attached properties in the fraud investigations related to Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) to Rs 8,997 crore.
Earlier, the agency had attached assets worth over Rs 7,545 crore in this case related to alleged bank loan fraud and other financial irregularities by RCOM, Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd and Reliance Home Finance Ltd.
Issuing a clarification on the attachment of properties, the Reliance Group said that RCom has not been part of the Anil Ambani Group entities since 2019.
According to the statement, RCOM has been undergoing the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process for over six years under the supervision of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and Supreme Court.
"RCom is no longer part of the Reliance Group and has been managed by a Resolution Professional for over six years under the supervision of the NCLT and the Committee of Creditors led by SBI," the statement read.
The ED initiated its probe based on an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation against RCOM, Anil Ambani and others, under various sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Investigators found that between 2010 and 2012, RCOM and its group companies secured loans from several domestic and foreign lenders, with outstanding dues amounting to Rs 40,185 crore. Nine banks subsequently declared the group's loan accounts as fraudulent.
According to the ED, funds borrowed by one entity were routinely diverted for repaying loans of other group firms, transferred to related parties, or invested in mutual funds - violating sanction terms.
RCOM and its group companies "diverted" over Rs 13,600 crore for "evergreening" of loans, over Rs 12,600 crore was "diverted" to connected parties, and over Rs 1,800 crore was "invested" in fixed deposits and mutual funds, etc., which was substantially liquidated for re-routing to group entities, the ED probe found.
"Huge misuse of bill discounting for the purpose of funnelling funds to connected parties has also been detected by the ED. Certain loans were siphoned off outside India through foreign outward remittances," the probe agency said.
The ED said it remains committed to pursuing financial crime offenders and ensuring that proceeds of crime are recovered and restored to rightful stakeholders. Further investigation is underway.
