ED Attaches Rs 3,034 Crore Assets in Reliance Communications Bank Fraud Probe

A Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up under the direction of the Supreme Court, is probing cases connected to the Reliance Anil Ambani Group. The case involves allegations of misuse and laundering of bank and public funds.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally seized assets of Rs 3,034.90 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, as part of its investigation into the Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM) bank fraud case.

The investigation started after the CBI registered multiple cases based on complaints from the State Bank of India, the Punjab National Bank, the Bank of Baroda, and the Life Insurance Corporation of India.

RCOM and its group companies had taken loans from Indian and foreign banks. Out of these loans, Rs 40,185 crore is still unpaid.

During the investigation, the ED identified multiple assets connected to the promoter group. These include a flat in Usha Kiran Building in Mumbai, a farmhouse in Khandala near Pune,
a land parcel in Sanand, Ahmedabad, and 7.71 crore shares of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd held by Risee Infinity Pvt. Ltd, a company linked to Anil Ambani through the RiseE Trust (a private family trust).

The RiseE Trust was created to protect wealth and generate income by putting properties into the trust. The main purpose was to keep these properties safe from Anil Ambani’s personal liabilities, especially the personal guarantees he had given to banks for loans taken by RCOM. The properties were meant to benefit Anil Ambani and his family, not the public sector banks whose loans later became non-performing assets (NPAs).

Section 8 of the PMLA provides for the return of the property seized to the owner who has suffered a loss, such as a bank, and the reason for attaching the property is to preserve the value of the property. After the legal process is completed, the money can be recovered and given back to the banks and ultimately benefit the public.

The further investigation is still ongoing.