ED attaches fresh assets worth over Rs 1,400 cr in case against Anil Ambani's Reliance Group

Anil Ambani. File Pic

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its action against companies linked to the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), seizing immovable properties worth Rs 1,400 crore under a fresh provisional attachment order, reported news agency IANS.

With this latest move, the total value of assets attached by the agency in the case has now risen to nearly Rs 9,000 crore, sources told IANS.

The new attachment comes at a time when the ED's scrutiny of the ADAG group has been steadily increasing.

On November 17, Reliance ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani skipped the agency's summons for the second time in a FEMA investigation related to the Jaipur-Reengus highway project.

He had also missed an earlier round of questioning on Friday after the ED rejected his request for a virtual appearance.

Ambani again sought permission to join the investigation virtually on Monday, but the agency insisted on a physical appearance.

According to investigators, the FEMA probe began after allegations surfaced that around Rs 40 crore from the 2010 highway project awarded to Reliance Infra was diverted abroad through Surat-based shell companies and routed to Dubai.

The ED believes this money trail is linked to a wider hawala network estimated at over Rs 600 crore.

A Reliance Group spokesperson recently said that Anil Ambani is willing to cooperate and is ready to record his statement "at any date and time suitable to the ED" through a virtual or recorded video appearance, reported IANS.

This is not the first time Ambani has come under the agency's scanner. In August, he was questioned for nearly nine hours at the ED headquarters in connection with an alleged Rs 17,000-crore bank loan fraud case.

The ED's crackdown on ADAG companies has expanded in recent months. Last week, the agency provisionally attached over 132 acres of land worth Rs 4,462.81 crore at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City in Navi Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Earlier, it had attached 42 properties valued at more than Rs 3,083 crore linked to bank fraud investigations involving Reliance Communications, Reliance Commercial Finance, and Reliance Home Finance.

(With inputs from IANS)