ED Files Supplementary Complaint Against Reliance Power In Fake Bank Guarantee Case

The Directorate of Enforcement has filed a supplementary prosecution complaint against Reliance Power Limited in connection with fake bank guarantees submitted to Solar Energy Corporation of India for securing a tender. The agency has also attached proceeds of crime worth Rs 5.15 crore in the case.

The investigation stems from FIRs registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Delhi, based on complaints from SECI and Reliance NU BESS Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of Reliance Power, against Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd and its Managing Director, Partha Sarathi Biswal. Reliance NU BESS had bid for SECI’s tender to set up 1000 MW / 2000 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage System projects, requiring a bank guarantee of Rs 68.2 crore.

PMLA investigation has established the connivance and mala fide intentions of Reliance Group in securing the SECI tender by submitting fake Bank Guarantees purportedly issued by foreign banks and their forged endorsements in the name of SBI. During the course of investigation, the CFO of M/s Reliance Power Limited, Mr. Ashok Kumar Pal, and other facilitators were arrested, all of whom are in judicial custody.

According to ED, Reliance Power, with mala fide intent, engaged Biswal Tradelink to arrange fake bank guarantees purportedly issued by FirstRand Bank, Manila (a non-existent branch) and ACE Investment Bank, Malaysia. Fraudulent endorsements were created using a spoofed SBI email ID and forged letters, with a fake domain s-bi.co.in mimicking SBI’s official domain.

To fund the arrangement, Reliance Power routed Rs 6.33 crore from its subsidiary Rosa Power Supply Company Ltd to Biswal Tradelink under bogus transportation services. Officials also executed fake work orders and invoices. Additionally, Reliance Power paid Rs 5.40 crore to Biswal Tradelink to make the transaction appear legitimate.

When SECI detected the fraud, Reliance Group arranged a genuine bank guarantee from IDBI Bank, but it was rejected for being late. In a bid to salvage the tender, officials attempted fresh endorsements and even obtained a Certificate of Enlistment for Reliance NU BESS from Kolkata Municipal Corporation using bogus documents. Later, Reliance filed a complaint against Biswal Tradelink to shift blame.

ED’s probe under PMLA established connivance by Reliance Group officials, including CFO Ashok Kumar Pal, who along with other facilitators, is in judicial custody.