ED questions Anil Ambani for 10 hrs in bank loan ‘fraud’ case; may be called again

New Delhi, Aug 5: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday questioned Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani for around 10 hours in a money laundering case linked to alleged multiple bank loan fraud cases worth crores of rupees against his group companies.

The businessman reached the office of the central probe agency in central Delhi in an EV vehicle around 10:50 am and made an exit shortly before 9 pm.

The statement of the 66-year-old businessman has been recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), official sources said. He was asked about a dozen questions, they said.

It is understood that Ambani denied any wrongdoing and said his companies have made timely disclosures about their financial health to regulators.

The ED investigators are, however, not convinced, and he is expected to be summoned again.

The summons come after the agency conducted searches at 35 premises of 50 companies and 25 people, including executives of his business group, in Mumbai on July 24.

The ED has notified a Look Out Circular (LOC), as per standard operating procedure in large bank ‘fraud’ cases, against Ambani even as some executives of his group have also been summoned to appear for questioning during the week as part of this probe.

In a related case, the ED had recently arrested Partha Sarathi Biswal, the MD of an Odisha-based company, for allegedly providing a fake bank guarantee of Rs 68 crore for an Anil Ambani Group company.

The action against Ambani pertains to alleged financial irregularities and collective loan “diversion” pegged at more than Rs 17,000 crore by multiple group companies of Anil Ambani, including Reliance Infrastructure (R Infra).

The first allegation pertains to “illegal” loan diversion of around Rs 3,000 crore, given by the Yes Bank to the group companies of Ambani between 2017 and 2019.

The ED suspects, the sources said, that just before the loan was granted, Yes Bank promoters “received” money in their companies.

The agency is investigating this nexus of “bribe” and the loan.

The sources said the ED is also probing allegations of “gross violations” in Yes Bank loan approvals to these companies, including charges such as back-dated credit approval memorandums and investments proposed without any due diligence/credit analysis in violation of the bank’s credit policy.

The loans are alleged to have been “diverted” to many group companies and “shell” (bogus) companies by the entities involved.

The agency is also looking at some instances of loans given to entities with weak financials, a lack of proper documentation of loans and due diligence, borrowers having common addresses and common directors in their companies, etc., according to the sources.

The money laundering case stems from at least two CBI FIRs and reports shared by National Housing Bank, SEBI, National Financial Reporting Authority and Bank of Baroda with the ED, they had said.

These reports, the sources said, indicate there was a “well-planned and thought after scheme” to divert or siphon off public money by cheating banks, shareholders, investors and other public institutions.

The other allegation being probed by the ED, on the basis of a SEBI report, is that R Infra “diverted” funds disguised as inter-corporate deposits (ICDs) to Reliance Group companies through a company named CLE.

The company added that Ambani was not on the board of R Infra for more than three years (March 2022).