Anil Ambani leaves for Delhi, to appear before ED in loan fraud case today

India Today

14 hours ago

Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani on Tuesday left for New Delhi to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged Rs 17,000-crore bank loan fraud involving several of his group companies.The 66-year-old industrialist has been summoned to the ED headquarters in the national capital, where his statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).advertisementThe summons followed a massive crackdown by the ED last month, during which the central agency searched 35 premises linked to nearly 50 companies and 25 people, including top executives from the Reliance Group. The three-day operation began on July 24 and focused on suspected financial irregularities and large-scale diversion of bank loans.
According to officials, the probe centres on multiple companies under Anil Ambani's business empire — particularly Reliance Infrastructure (R Infra) — which are alleged to have diverted loans worth over Rs 17,000 crore.Citing a Sebi report, ED has alleged that Reliance Infrastructure diverted funds to other Reliance Group entities under the guise of inter-corporate deposits (ICDs). The transactions were routed through a company called CLE, which, investigators claimed, was not disclosed as a "related party" by R Infra—reportedly in an attempt to bypass mandatory approvals from shareholders and audit committees.As part of its probe into the alleged loan fraud, the Enforcement Directorate has also written to 39 banks, seeking explanations on their due diligence lapses. The agency has questioned why these banks failed to flag the loans as suspicious or report them to authorities when the borrowing entities began defaulting on repayments."The silence of the banks even after loan defaults raises serious questions. These institutions had a legal duty to alert the authorities, which they failed to do,' a senior official told India Today TV.The probe agency, last week, made its first arrest in the ongoing investigation into alleged financial irregularities linked to Reliance Power. Partha Sarathi Biswal, managing director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd, was arrested on August 1 under the PMLA.According to sources, Biswal is accused of arranging fake bank guarantees worth Rs 68.2 crore on behalf of Reliance Power.Meanwhile, the ED has also notified a Look Out Circular (LOC) against Anil Ambani to stop him from travelling abroad.- EndsTune InMust Watch