The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Saturday filed a case against industrialist Anil Ambani and conducted searches at his residence and the premises of Reliance Communications in connection with an alleged bank fraud which, the agency claimed, caused a loss of over Rs 2,929 crore to State Bank of India (SBI). The CBI obtained the search warrants from a Mumbai court Friday. “The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a criminal case on August 21 against M/s Reliance Communication Ltd (RCOM), Mumbai, its Director Anil D Ambani, unknown public servants and unknown others on the allegations of defrauding the bank, and thereby causing wrongful loss of Rs 2,929.05 crore to the bank,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement. A spokesperson for Anil Ambani said the industrialist had been “selectively singled out” and “strongly denies all allegations and charges”. The CBI move comes days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a case against Anil Ambani and questioned him over an alleged “Rs 20,000 crore loan scam”. At the time, the Anil Ambani group had denied the charges and said that it remains “committed to full legal compliance, transparency, and the regulatory process”. According to the CBI, its case stems from a complaint received on August 18 from Jyoti Kumar, DGM of SBI’s Mumbai branch. Kumar alleged in his complaint that the fraud perpetrated by the accused came to light when the forensic auditor submitted its report on October 15, 2020. “The period covered in the report is from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2017. The fraud has taken place at Mumbai in credit facilities availed by borrower company, wherein the accused persons/ company in conspiracy with each other and unknown others have induced the lenders to avail the credit facilities by misrepresentation and deception and after disbursal of the same, misappropriated the funds of the Banks by entering into transaction which were in violation of the terms and conditions of sanction of the credit facilities,” Kumar alleged in his complaint. According to the CBI spokesperson, it is alleged that the accused “in criminal conspiracy, misrepresented and got sanctioned credit facilities” from SBI in favour of Reliance Communications. “Further, the allegations pertain to misutilisation/ diversion of loan funds, potential routing of loan funds, inter-company loan transactions, misutilisation of sales invoice financing, discounting of bills of RCOM by Reliance Infratel Ltd, movement of funds through inter corporate deposits, write off of capital advances given to Netizen Engineering Pvt Ltd, a group company of Reliance ADA Group, and creation/ write off of fictitious debtors, etc,” the spokesperson said. “All these transactions do not appear genuine or conducted in the normal course of business. Transactions appear to be an attempt of diversion of funds by manipulation of books of accounts through fictitious account/ fictitious entries. It appears that they have committed the offence of misappropriation of funds and breach of trust with dishonest intention,” the CBI's FIR stated. The spokesperson for Anil Ambani said, “The search at Anil D Ambani’s residence concluded early this afternoon. The complaint filed by State Bank of India (SBI) pertains to matters dating back more than 10 years. At the relevant time, Mr Ambani was a Non-Executive Director of the company, with no involvement in the day-to-day management.” The spokesperson said, “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. At present, Reliance Communications is being managed under the supervision of a Committee of Creditors, led by SBI and overseen by a Resolution Professional. The matter remains sub judice, pending before the NCLT and other judicial forums, including the Hon’ble Supreme Court, for the past six years. Mr Ambani has duly challenged SBI’s declaration before the competent judicial forum. Mr Ambani strongly denies all allegations and charges, and will duly defend himself.”
