26 February,2026 01:28 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Anil Ambani appears before ED in New Delhi. File pic
Industrialist Anil Ambani on Thursday appeared at the Enforcement Directorate's headquarters in Delhi to join a money laundering investigation against him.
As reported by news agency ANI, Anil deposed before the investigators at around 11 am to record his statement in the case regarding which he was summoned earlier.
The move comes after the central investigation agency attached the Mumbai's Pali Hill residential property 'Abode' of the industrialist, worth Rs 3,716.83 crores, in connection with its ongoing money laundering probe. The probe is allegedly linked to Reliance Communications Ltd's alleged bank fraud case.
ED's Special Task Force (Headquarters) attached the Pali Hill property under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). Earlier, part of this property was attached to the extent of Rs 473.17 crores, reported ANI.
After attaching Anil Ambani's Pali Hill property, the cumulative attachment of properties in the group now stands at over Rs 15,700 crore.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate had also initiated an investigation based on the Central Bureau of Investigation's First Information Report (FIR) under sections 120-B, 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and section 13(2) read with section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1989, against Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM), Anil Ambani, and others.
Briefing about the case, the ED said that RCOM and its group companies availed loans from domestic and foreign lenders, of which a total amount of Rs 40,185 crores is outstanding.
On August 5, 2025, the ED had also recorded the statement of Anil Ambani on various points pertaining to loan transactions that were put to him. He then sought a period of seven days to furnish the requisite details and supporting documents. Anil was then further questioned in connection with an ongoing investigation into an alleged Rs 17,000-crore loan fraud case, reported ANI.
ED is probing the loan fraud of Reliance Communications Ltd of over Rs 14,000 crores. It is noteworthy that Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary confirmed in Parliament that the State Bank of India (SBI) had classified Reliance Communications (RCom) and its promoter, Anil Ambani, as "fraudulent" in accordance with RBI guidelines.
Also, the SBI reported this classification to the RBI and is preparing to file a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Along with their fraudulent financial activities with SBI, Reliance Communications Ltd is also alleged to have cheated Canara Bank of more than Rs. 1,050 crores.
Highly placed sources confirmed that undisclosed foreign bank accounts and foreign assets are also being investigated.
Earlier, ED was also said to have found that Reliance Mutual Fund invested Rs 2850 crore in AT-1 bonds of YES Bank (perpetual FDs) for a suspected quid pro quo. "These bonds were eventually written down, and money was syphoned off. This was the money of the public, the mutual fund investors. CBI is also investigating this issue."
Based on information received from SEBI, ED has found that Reliance Infra has diverted a large sum of money disguised as ICDs to Group Companies of RAAGA through C Company, an undisclosed related party company. However, Reliance Infra did not disclose C Company as its related party in order to avoid proper approval from the shareholders and the audit committee.
Furthermore, it has been found that R Infra has taken a haircut of Rs 5,480 crore, and only Rs 4 crore has been received in cash, reported ANI.
The ED, while briefing about the probe, said, "The remaining Rs 6,499 crores have been settled in the form of assignment and transfer of assets/economic rights, mainly in certain Discoms." These Discoms haven't had any business for many years and are not operational. Therefore, there are zero chances of recovery of this amount. The loan diversion in this case is over Rs 10,000 crores," as cited by ANI.
Last year, ED's Special Task Force attached over 132 acres of land in Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai worth Rs 4,462.81 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
(With inputs from ANI)
