Loan Transferred Even Before Approval In Anil Ambani Case: Sources

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Reliance Group owner Anil Ambani to its Delhi headquarters on August 5 in a bank loan fraud case of Rs 17,000 crore. A lookout circular has been issued against him.

The ED summoned Mr Ambani after searching over 35 locations, 50 firms and 25 people for three days in the same case.

A large number of incriminating documents and digital evidence have been found, sources said. The ED called the businessman to Delhi for questioning only after these steps were completed, they said.

The first case against Mr Ambani is linked to Reliance Group companies.

What are the allegations in the Rs 17,000 crore loan fraud case?

1. Loans worth Rs 3,000 crore were allegedly taken from YES Bank from 2017 to 2019.

2. During this time, money was also sent directly to YES Bank promoters.

3. That means the ground for the scam was prepared even before the loan was approved.

4. The documents for the companies to which YES Bank gave loans were allegedly prepared later.

5. The ED found the loan amount was transferred to other group companies and shell firms.

6. The financial condition of the companies that received the loan was bad.

7. The addresses, directors and documents of the companies matched each other.

8. Some loans were approved and released on the same day the application was made.

9. In some places the loan amount was transferred even before approval.

10. The companies also allegedly tampered with their financial data.

This entire case began after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed two first information reports (FIRs) into the alleged fraud. National Housing Bank, SEBI, National Financial Reporting Authority, and Bank of Baroda helped in the investigation.

According to the ED's initial investigation, money had been diverted by deceiving banks, shareholders and common investors in a well-planned conspiracy.

The capital markets regular Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has also given its report to the ED in cases related to Reliance Home Finance Ltd.

RHFL allegedly gave a corporate loan of Rs 3,742 crore in 2017-18; a year later, this figure increased to Rs 8,670 crore. Such big loans were also approved in a hurry and without any investigation.

Second Case

The second big case against Mr Ambani is linked to an alleged loan fraud worth over Rs 14,000 crore, linked to his company, Reliance Communications.

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary himself in parliament. He said SBI has put Reliance Communications and Mr Ambani in the fraud category under the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India.

SBI has informed the RBI about this alleged fraud and work is going on to file a case with the CBI, sources said.

Rs 1,050-Crore Fraud

Reliance Communications faces allegations of committing a Rs 1,050-crore fraud, this time on Canara Bank.

According to sources, an investigation of bank accounts and properties opened abroad by Mr Ambani and his companies has begun.

Fake bank guarantees were used to take loans, sources said.

The ED exposed one such racket, in which an Odisha-based company, Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd, gave fake bank guarantees of more than Rs 68 crore to three companies of Anil Ambani.