ED Books Fresh PMLA Case Against Anil Ambani, RCom For Alleged Rs 2,929-Crore Bank Loan Fraud

The Enforcement Directorate has booked industrialist Anil Ambani, along with Reliance Communications Ltd., in a fresh money laundering case, NDTV learnt on Wednesday.

The case stems from an alleged loan fraud, which has caused a loss of Rs 2,929 crore to the State Bank of India, persons privy to the matter said.

The ED case is based on the first information report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in August, when the agency had carried out searches at several premises of the Anil Ambani-linked entities, the persons added.

The development comes nearly a week after Bank of Baroda declared the loan accounts of the insolvent RCom and its erstwhile director Anil Ambani as "fraud".

In June, SBI tagged the loan account of RCom as fraud. This was followed by a similar action by Bank of India in August, which classified the loan account of RCom as fraudulent and named Ambani, citing alleged fund diversion in 2016.

After the BoB action last week, Ambani's spokesperson said in a statement that he is being "selectively targeted" in a staggered manner by select banks.

"It is pertinent to note that Mr. Anil D. Ambani served only as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of RCom from inception in 2006 until his resignation from the Board in  2019... After an inordinate lapse of more than 10 years, select lenders have now chosen to initiate proceedings in a staggered and selective manner targeting Ambani," his spokesperson said.