Ambani's Potential Crores-Worth Scam Investigation: Inquiries Anticipated for him Today by the Investigative Authority
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is currently investigating a multi-crore bank loan fraud involving Anil Ambani's Reliance Group. The alleged fraud centres around the misuse and diversion of large bank loans granted to multiple group companies, including Reliance Communications (RCom) and Reliance Infrastructure.
The probe has uncovered a "calculated scheme" involving diversion of funds, fake bank guarantees, and money laundering linked to these loans. Key details of the ongoing investigation include:
- The loan fraud primarily splits into two components. Around Rs 3,000 crore from Yes Bank, loans disbursed between 2017 and 2019, allegedly diverted through illegal quid pro quo arrangements. Over Rs 14,000 crore linked to Reliance Communications, where the State Bank of India (SBI) declared the loan account fraudulent citing fund diversion and book manipulation.
- The ED has conducted extensive raids, starting on 24th July 2025, targeting 35 premises, 50 companies, and questioning more than 25 executives from the group to recover incriminating documents and digital evidence. The raids uncovered complex bank loan evasion tactics including evergreening loans and routing through shell companies.
- A related separate investigation involves a fake bank guarantee scam of Rs 68.2 crore linked to a small company, Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd (BTPL), which allegedly submitted forged SBI bank guarantees to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for a Reliance Group tender. BTPL received Rs 5.40 crore from Reliance Nu Bess Ltd, a Reliance Power subsidiary. Investigators suspect collusion between BTPL and Reliance Nu Bess due to overlapping ties.
- The ED is scrutinizing around a dozen banks that lent to Reliance companies, including SBI, ICICI, HDFC, Axis Bank, and Yes Bank, focusing on loan approval irregularities, poor due diligence, same-day loans, and suspicious loan repayments.
- Anil Ambani has been summoned multiple times and questioned for several hours under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), with senior ED officers leading the probe. The Reliance Group chairman, Anil Ambani, is being questioned at the ED's office in New Delhi today.
- The Reliance Group has claimed that it has been a victim of fraud, forgery, and cheating and asserts that the companies acted bonafide.
The investigation portrays a complex multi-crore scam involving diversion of sanctioned loans and forged bank guarantees, with ED probing suspicious financial practices pointing to money laundering and deliberate default. This case represents one of the largest financial fraud probes in recent years against Anil Ambani’s business group.
The investigation is ongoing and may uncover more details about the alleged fraudulent activities. Some loans were reportedly approved and released on the same day the application was made, while others were transferred even before 'approval'. The questioning will be recorded on camera, and the summons for Mr. Ambani to appear was issued on August 1.
The first arrest in the case was made last week, Partha Sarathi Biswal, the managing director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd, was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, for submitting fake guarantees worth Rs 68.2 crore, on behalf of Reliance Power.
During the questioning, Mr. Ambani may be asked about the companies that took loans in the last 10 years, the financial condition of the companies, whether loans were used for sanctioned purposes, if correct information was furnished, if loans were diverted to shell companies, if he defaulted on loans deliberately, if fraud bills were circulated by his companies, if banks or any other organization filed audit reports, if he was part of any conspiracy, if he influenced people to be part of the fraud, transactions made with foreign companies, if he bribed any government official, if funds were transferred after the NSA was declared, if funds were transferred to political parties, why a fraudulent bank guarantee was given, how loans were disbursed before approval, and why he paid bank officials after loan disbursement.
The first allegation of illegal loan diversion involves approximately Rs 3,000 crore from Yes Bank to Mr. Ambani's group companies between 2017 and 2019. The questioning is in connection with money laundering charges linked to alleged bank loan frauds worth Rs 17,000 crore. The probe agency launched raids on July 24 as part of the alleged bank loan fraud-linked money laundering case, apart from multiple other allegations of financial irregularities with crores of rupees by certain companies. The Enforcement Directorate's questioning of Mr. Ambani is still ongoing at the time of this report.
This investigation delves into a complex multi-crore scam, focusing on the alleged diversion of sanctioned loans and forged bank guarantees provided to Anil Ambani's Reliance Group, involving politics, general-news, and crime-and-justice. The Enforcement Directorate's ongoing probe has thus far uncovered a calculated scheme of money laundering, loan evasion tactics, and fraudulent activities, with the first arrest being made last week, Partha Sarathi Biswal, for submitting fake guarantees worth Rs 68.2 crore. The investigation's scope expands to question Anil Ambani's role in the loan approval irregularities, diversion of funds to shell companies, deliberate loan defaults, and transactions with foreign companies, among other issues.
