ED Attaches ₹3,000-Cr Assets Linked To Anil Ambani
The case pertains to the alleged diversion and laundering of public funds raised by Reliance Home Finance Ltd. (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd. (RCFL): Reports
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth over ₹3,000 crore linked to Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani, his group companies, and associated entities as part of a money-laundering investigation.
Officials said the agency issued four provisional attachment orders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on October 31, covering properties that include the 66-year-old industrialist’s family residence in Pali Hill, Mumbai, along with other residential and commercial assets belonging to his group companies.
A plot of land belonging to Reliance Centre on Maharaja Ranjit Singh Marg in Delhi, and multiple assets of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. and connected entities located in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Hyderabad, Chennai, and East Godavari have also been attached.
Among the attached properties are offices in the Nagin Mahal building at Churchgate, Mumbai, flats in BHA Millennium Apartments, Noida, and units in Camus Capri Apartments, Hyderabad. The total value of the provisionally attached assets stands at ₹3,084 crore, sources said.
The case pertains to the alleged diversion and laundering of public funds raised by Reliance Home Finance Ltd. (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd. (RCFL).
According to the ED, during 2017–2019, Yes Bank invested ₹2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and ₹2,045 crore in RCFL instruments. By December 2019, these turned into non-performing investments, with ₹1,353.50 crore outstanding for RHFL and ₹1,984 crore for RCFL.
Investigators found that direct investment by the erstwhile Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund into Anil Ambani Group financial companies was not legally permissible under Sebi’s conflict-of-interest norms. In violation of these rules, the ED alleged, funds invested by the general public in mutual funds were routed indirectly through Yes Bank, which ultimately reached Anil Ambani Group entities.
The agency said that its probe revealed that corporate loans from Yes Bank to RHFL and RCFL were further disbursed to linked entities of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group. “Substantial portions of the corporate loans ultimately landed in Reliance Group accounts,” the ED stated, adding that several loans were processed without proper due diligence, with applications, sanctions, and disbursals occurring on the same day, and in some cases, disbursals even preceding sanctions.
Officials said the ED has also intensified its investigation into alleged loan fraud involving Reliance Communications Ltd. and related companies. These firms are accused of diverting more than ₹13,600 crore through evergreening of loans, with ₹12,600 crore allegedly diverted to connected parties and ₹1,800 crore invested in fixed deposits and mutual funds that were later liquidated and rerouted to group entities.
The agency is continuing to trace the proceeds of crime and secure property attachments so they can later be restituted to affected banks under PMLA provisions.
The action against Anil Ambani is part of a wider probe into alleged financial irregularities and loan diversions exceeding ₹17,000 crore by multiple Reliance Group companies, including Reliance Infrastructure.
Anil Ambani was questioned by the ED in August, following extensive searches conducted on July 24 across 35 premises linked to 50 companies and 25 individuals, including top executives of the Reliance Group. The ED’s money-laundering case is based on a CBI FIR.
