A day after the Malegaon blast verdict acquitted all accused, ex-ATS officer Mehiboob Mujawar alleged he was ordered to frame RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. He claimed efforts were made to establish “saffron terror” and that false charges ruined his 40-year career. The ATS probe was later taken over by the NIA.
Anil Ambani. Pic/PTI
Just a few days after the Enforcement Directorate raided Anil Ambani's office, he was summoned for questioning on August 5. Anil Ambani, the chairman of the Reliance Group, was questioned by the ED over an alleged loan fraud-linked money laundering case against his group companies, official sources said on Friday.
As per news agency PTI, Anil Ambani has been asked to report for further questioning at the ED headquarters in Delhi, as the case has been registered here, the sources said.
While informing about the summons issued by the ED, they highlighted that the agency will record Anil Ambani’s statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) once he deposes, as cited by the news agency PTI.
The summons issued to the son of former prominent businessman Dhirubhai Ambani comes after the federal agency conducted searches against multiple companies and executives of his business group last week. The searches, which were initiated on July 24, went on for three days.
The action by the investigative agency pertains to alleged financial irregularities and collective loan "diversion" of more than Rs 10,000 crore by multiple group companies of Anil Ambani.
The searches conducted a few days prior covered more than 35 premises in Mumbai, and they belonged to 50 companies and 25 people. Out of the 35 premises, most of them belonged to the executives of the Anil Ambani Group companies.
In view of this matter, some of the sources from the Enforcement Directorate had said the investigation primarily pertains to allegations 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, as per PTI.
Moreover, the sources also claimed that Adani Power and Reliance Infrastructure had informed the stock exchanges, saying while they acknowledge the action, the raids had "absolutely no impact" on their business operations, financial performance, shareholders, employees, or any other stakeholders.
While issuing a statement, the companies stated that "the media reports appear to pertain to allegations concerning transactions of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) or Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL), which are over 10 years old," as per PTI.
As reported by the PTI, ED has reportedly found that just before the loan was granted, Yes Bank promoters "received" money in their concerns.
Keeping in mind that the investigation agency is very sharply digging into this nexus of "bribe" and the loan, the statements from Anil Ambani to the Enforcement Directorate will play a crucial role.
As per the reports from PTI, ED is also probing allegations of "gross violations" in Yes Bank loan approvals to these companies. The allegations against the accused also include charges such as backdated credit approval memorandums and investments proposed without any due diligence/credit analysis in violation of the bank's credit policy.
The loans are alleged to have been "diverted" to many group companies and "shell" (bogus) companies by the entities involved.
While digging deep on the facts of this high-profile case on Anil Ambani, the agency is also looking at some instances of loans given to entities with weak financials, a lack of proper documentation of loans and due diligence, borrowers having common addresses and common directors in their companies, etc., the sources said.
Moreover, the money laundering case stems from at least two CBI FIRs and reports shared by the National Housing Bank, SEBI, National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), and Bank of Baroda with the ED, they said.
These reports indicate that there was a "well-planned and thought-out scheme" to divert or syphon off public money by cheating banks, shareholders, investors, and other public institutions.
One of the sources had briefed that ‘The Union government had informed the Parliament recently that the State Bank of India has classified RCOM along with Ambani as 'fraud' and was also in the process of lodging a complaint with the CBI. A bank loan "fraud" of more than Rs 1,050 crore between RCOM and Canara Bank is also under the scanner of the ED, apart from some "undisclosed" foreign bank accounts and assets, as cited by news agency PTI.
Moreover, the Reliance Mutual Fund is also stated to have invested Rs 2,850 crore in AT-1 bonds, and a "quid pro quo" is suspected here by the Enforcement Directorate.
As reported by news agency PTI, an alleged loan fund diversion of about Rs 10,000 crore involving Reliance Infrastructure, too, is under the scanner of the agency.
Whereas, the two companies had said in their filings before the stock exchanges that Anil Ambani was not on the board of either Reliance Power or Reliance Infrastructure and that they had no "business or financial linkage" to RCOM or RHFL.
Any action taken against RCOM or RHFL, the companies said, has no bearing or impact on the governance, management, or operations of either Reliance Power or Reliance Infrastructure.
(With inputs from PTI)
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