Anil Ambani ED Probe: Reliance Group Chairman In Delhi For Questioning — All You Need To Know

Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani is in Delhi and will appear before the Enforcement Directorate regarding an alleged Rs 17,000-crore loan fraud case.

The ED issued a look-out notice and summoned Anil Ambani on Aug. 1. The look-out notice prevents individuals from leaving the country in an attempt to evade prosecution. The move follows searches conducted by the agency on July 24 across multiple premises associated with Ambani’s companies.

Top Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group executives Sateesh Seth and Amitabh Jhunjhunwala have also been summoned by the agency.

The industrialist and his companies have been under the scanner for a while. Here is all you need to know about the timeline of the alleged loan diversion, investigation and probe so far.

The loan fraud investigation centres on loans disbursed by Yes Bank Ltd. to Ambani’s group companies between 2017 and 2019. The ED suspects that a portion of these funds may have been illegally diverted.

Investigators are also probing a possible quid pro quo, alleging that Yes Bank promoters received financial benefits shortly before the loans were sanctioned.

In response to the developments, Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure had already issued statements to the stock exchanges on July 26, asserting that the ED’s actions had “absolutely no impact” on their business operations, financial performance, or stakeholder interests.

ED in July had informed the Rajya Sabha that it has launched a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act into suspected loan frauds by Reliance Home Finance Ltd. and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd. The investigation is based on two FIRs filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

According to the ED, loans amounting to Rs 12,524 crore were extended by RHFL and RCFL, with the majority disbursed to firms linked to the Reliance Anil Ambani Group. Of this, loans worth Rs 6,931 crore have been declared non-performing assets.

Preliminary findings suggest the funds were routed back to other companies within the Reliance Group, raising concerns of "circular lending." Yes Bank's Rana Kapoor played a key role in sanctioning these loans, the ED said, adding that his family-linked firms RAB Enterprises, Imagine Estates, and Bliss House also received credit facilities.

In June this year, the State Bank of India declared Reliance Communications and its promoter Anil Ambani’s account as 'fraud', notifying the Reserve Bank of India and filing a complaint with the CBI. Investigators have since seized documents and digital records from group offices in Mumbai and Delhi as part of a wider probe into suspected misuse of public funds through a network of shell companies.

Earlier, the Securities and Exchange Board of India had barred Anil Ambani and several senior group executives from the securities markets for five years and imposed a monetary penalty for alleged diversion of funds from Reliance Home Finance.

On top of that, ED is also looking at Rs 10,000 crore worth of fund diversion by Reliance Infrastructure, through a company, the name of which is currently undisclosed. This is on the basis of information from the markets regulator SEBI.

The mysterious and dramatic rise in corporate loans issued by Reliance Home Finance between 2017-18 and 2018-19 also made part of the investigation. These loans rose 131% in this period to Rs 8,670.8 crore, sources said.

As the ED expands its probe in the Anil Ambani case, summoning key executives and seeking details from multiple banks, attention turns to other high-profile fraud cases that have rocked the Indian banking system over the past decade.