The Enforcement Directorate has filed a chargesheet against Reliance Power Ltd and 10 others in a Rs 68 crore fake bank guarantee case linked to a SECI tender. The ED alleges Reliance officials used fraudulent endorsements and spoofed emails, while the group claims it is a victim of fraud. Several accused remain in custody
Representational Image. File Pic
The co-accused named in the prosecution complaint include former Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal, Reliance NU BESS Ltd. and Rosa Power Supply Company Ltd. (subsidiaries of Reliance Power), Reliance Group executive Punit Narendra Garg, an Odisha-based "shell" company Biswal Tradelink Private Limited, its MD Patha Sarathi Biswal and trade financing consultant Amar Nath Dutta, reported the PTI.
As per the Enforcement Directorate, Biothane Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., Ravinder Pal Singh Chadha and Manoj Bhaiyasaheb Pongde are also among the accused.
The officials from the ED also emphasised that the chargesheet has been filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at the Patiala House court in Delhi on Friday, reported PTI.
The case in which the above-mentioned parties have been accused pertains to a bank guarantee of Rs 68.2 crore submitted to secure a tender from the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power, a listed company.
The company (Reliance NU BESS) was formerly known as Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited. The probe, as per the agency, found that Reliance Group officials were well aware that this was a "fake" bank guarantee.
Furthermore, "fraudulent" endorsements were being submitted to SECI from a "spoofed" email ID of SBI, and when SECI detected the fraud, Reliance Group arranged a genuine bank guarantee from IDBI Bank within a day of intimation of the fraud by SECI.
The ED in their chargesheet mentioned that, "However, SECI refused to accept the fresh bank guarantee as it was submitted after the due date. Since Reliance NU BESS Limited had emerged as the L-2 bidder, in order to save the tender, Reliance Group officials even tried to arrange a fresh endorsement of the fake foreign bank guarantee from an SBI branch in Kolkata, as reported by PTI.
While the response from the Reliance Group is still awaited, it had earlier said Ambani was "not on the Board of Reliance Power Limited for more than 3.5 years and is not concerned with this matter in any manner".
The Reliance Group also claimed to have been a "victim of fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy" in this case, adding that it had made due disclosures in this context to the stock exchange on November 7, 2024.
The ED also added that Reliance Group officials signed a "dummy" agreement and also obtained the "Certificate of Enlistment" of Reliance NU BESS Limited from Kolkata Municipal Corporation by submitting "bogus" address documents.
However, when they again failed to get the fresh endorsement done, in order to shift the entire blame onto the intermediary, they filed a complaint against Biswal Tradelink Private Limited and its MD, Partha Sarathi Biswal.
Following this, Biswal was arrested by the ED in this case, apart from ex-Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal and Dutta. They are currently lodged in jail under judicial custody, reported PTI.
The money laundering case stems from a November 2024 FIR of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW). It was alleged that Bhubaneswar-based shell entity Biswal Tradelink was engaged in issuing "fake" bank guarantees against commission.
(With inputs from PTI)
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