Anil Ambani Skips ED Summons For The Second Time
He had also missed the previous in-person appearance on Friday, people familiar with the matter told NDTV Profit.
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Anil Ambani, chairman of the Reliance Group, did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for questioning related to an ongoing investigation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), people familiar with the matter told NDTV Profit. This is the second time he has skipped the ED summons.
He had also missed the previous in-person appearance on Friday, after the ED declined his request for a virtual hearing.
The probe relates to the Jaipur–Reengus highway project, for which Reliance Infra was awarded contract in 2010.
ED alleges that Rs 40 crore from the project was siphoned abroad through shell companies in Surat and routed to Dubai. The agency further added that this could be part of a broader international hawala network exceeding Rs 600 crore.
The business magnate was last interrogated by the agency in August. The agency recently attached assets worth Rs 4,462 crore as part of its investigation against Ambani's group companies.
The ED earlier this week attached an approximately 132 acres of land at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City or DAKC in Navi Mumbai, valued at approximately Rs 7,545 crore, in connection to the Reliance Communications bank loan case.
The ED initiated its investigation in the case following a CBI FIR that named Anil Ambani, RCom, and others on charges of fraud, conspiracy, and corruption. The focus of the probe is RCom and its affiliates, which had taken loans totaling more than Rs 40,000 crore from Indian and foreign banks between 2010 and 2012. Five of these accounts have since been declared fraudulent by the lending banks.
The ED investigation has reportedly exposed a complex pattern of financial diversion. The key findings indicate that approximately Rs 13,600 crore was diverted through "loan evergreening", which is a technique used to fraudulently make old loans appear new on the books, the report added.
Also, more than Rs 12,600 crore was allegedly transferred to related companies, and over Rs 1,800 crore was allegedly invested and withdrawn from fixed deposits and mutual funds before being reinvested back into group companies.
