ED Attaches Fresh Rs 581-Cr Assets in Case Against Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group
Action under PMLA in case linked to RHFL and RCFL loan diversion allegations
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it has attached fresh assets worth more than Rs 581 crore as part of its investigation against RHFL and RCFL, companies of Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani. A provisional order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on March 11 to attach land parcels in Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.
The properties are worth Rs 581.65 crore, and they have been attached as part of a probe related to the Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL), the agency said.
"The attachment follows search operations conducted on March 6 in the case against Reliance Power Limited under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)," it said.
The ED had attached assets of Anil Ambani's Reliance Group earlier as well.
"The cumulative Reliance Anil Ambani Group attachment has reached Rs 16,310 crore," the ED said.
The probe stems from a CBI FIR filed against RCFL and RHFL based on complaints lodged by Yes Bank, Union Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra.
It is alleged that the two companies raised public funds from multiple banks and financial institutions, and more than Rs 11,000 crore of these funds turned into non-performing assets, the ED said.
The agency said public funds raised by RHFL and RCFL were "diverted" to various Reliance Group companies, such as Reliance Infrastructure Limited, Reliance Power Limited, Reliance Communications Limited, Reliance Capital Limited, etc.
The funds were diverted by routing them through a large number of shell (dummy) entities controlled and managed by the Reliance Anil Ambani Group, it alleged.
"These shell entities had negligible financial strength and no business operations," it said.
According to the ED, its investigation found "mala fide intent" on the part of the group promoters and key persons.
