ED registers fresh case against Anil Ambani, RCom linked to SBI 'fraud'

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has widened its ongoing money-laundering probe against the group companies of Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani, with the registration of a fresh case against Reliance Communication Limited (RCom) for an alleged Rs 2,929 crore loan fraud with the SBI, official sources said.

An Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), the ED's equivalent for a police FIR, has recently been filed by the federal probe agency, taking cognisance of a CBI complaint registered on August 21, the sources said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out searches at the premises of RCom and the residence of Ambani in Mumbai on August 23 as part of this SBI-linked investigation.

The accused in the latest ED case are the same as in the CBI FIR, which included RCom-Mumbai, its director Anil D Ambani, unidentified public servants and others on the basis of a complaint from the State Bank of India (SBI). The money-laundering investigation has been enlarged to look into all aspects of the alleged fraud linked to the Anil Ambani group companies and any possible inter-connection of these cases, the agency sources said.

According to the SBI complaint, annexed to the CBI FIR, the company (RCom) had an outstanding of more than Rs 40,000 crore to various lenders, with the public sector bank alone facing a loss of Rs 2,929.05 crore, according to 2018 figures.

A spokesperson for Ambani, following the CBI action, had said in a statement that the SBI complaint was linked to matters dating back more than 10 years and at the relevant time, Ambani was a non-executive director of the company, with no involvement in its day-to-day management.

"It is pertinent to note that SBI, by its own order, has already withdrawn proceedings against five other non-executive directors. Despite this, Mr Ambani has been selectively singled out," the statement had said.

The ED carried out searches in July against the current and former executives of the group companies of Ambani and in the first week of August, it questioned and recorded the statement of the 66-year-old businessman.

The initial ED probe was related to alleged financial irregularities and collective loan "diversion" pegged at more than Rs 17,000 crore by multiple group companies of Ambani, including Reliance Infrastructure (R Infra).

This also included the allegation of "illegal" loan diversion of around Rs 3,000 crore, given by the Yes Bank to the group companies of Ambani between 2017 and 2019.

The sources said some present and former executives of Ambani's group companies have been questioned and more people could be called for recording their statements, including the businessman.