In a significant crackdown, India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally seized properties valued at a staggering ₹1,452.51 crore belonging to Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) in connection with an alleged money laundering case. The action marks a major development in the ongoing financial probe against the telecom company, which is currently undergoing bankruptcy resolution.
Details of the Attached Properties
The financial crime-fighting agency, through its special task force, has frozen multiple high-value assets under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The attached properties include several buildings located within the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) and the Millenium Business Park in Navi Mumbai. Additionally, the ED has seized plots of land and buildings situated in Pune, Chennai, and Bhubaneshwar, collectively amounting to the massive sum.
This is not the first such action against the Reliance Group companies. The ED clarified that it had previously attached properties worth over ₹7,545 crore in alleged bank fraud cases involving Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd, and Reliance Home Finance Ltd. With the latest seizure, the total attachment in these cases now stands at a colossal ₹8,997 crore.
Reliance Group's Firm Denial
In a strong rebuttal, a spokesperson for Anil Ambani's Reliance Group issued a statement distancing the group from the controversy. The spokesperson emphasized that, as per the ED's own press statement, the attached assets belong to Reliance Communications, which has not been a part of the Reliance Group since 2019—a period spanning six years.
The statement further highlighted that RCom has been undergoing the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) for over six years, and all matters are currently sub-judice before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the Supreme Court of India. The company is now managed by a Resolution Professional appointed by creditors, led by the State Bank of India (SBI).
"Mr. Anil D. Ambani is in no way involved with Reliance Communications and has resigned six years ago in 2019," the company statement asserted, adding that he has also not served on the boards of Reliance Infrastructure or Reliance Power for over three and a half years. The group assured that the attachment order has no impact on the operations of these other companies.
The Enforcement Directorate's Allegations
The ED's investigation originated from a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act against RCom and certain individuals.
The agency alleges that RCom and its group companies availed loans from domestic and foreign lenders starting from the period of 2010-2012 onwards, with a total outstanding amount of ₹40,185 crore. Nine banks have since declared the group's loan accounts as fraud.
The probe has uncovered serious financial irregularities, according to the ED. The agency claims that loans taken by one group entity from a bank were used to repay loans of other entities from different banks, transferred to related parties, and invested in mutual funds, all in contravention of the loan sanction terms.
In a detailed breakdown, the ED alleged:
- Over ₹13,600 crore was diverted for evergreening of loans.
- More than ₹12,600 crore was diverted to connected parties.
- Over ₹1,800 crore was invested in fixed deposits or mutual funds, which were later liquidated and rerouted to group entities.
The agency also reported detecting a huge misuse of bill discounting to funnel funds to connected parties. The ED affirmed its commitment to actively pursuing perpetrators of financial crimes and restituting the proceeds of crime to their rightful claimants.
