From Mumbai to Kancheepuram, ED attaches Anil Ambani Group properties worth Rs 3,000 crore

The Central agency said it continues to trace proceeds of crime and secure attachments of property. “Recoveries made by ED would ultimately benefit the general public,” a spokesperson of the Central agency said.

ED made the attachment in a case where the diversion and laundering of public funds were raised by Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL). “During 2017–2019, Yes Bank invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL instruments. These turned into non‑performing investments by December 2019, with Rs 1,353.50 crore then outstanding for RHFL and Rs 1,984 crore for RCFL,” the spokesperson said.

‘Can be possible only if the applicant time-travelled’

“During the investigation, the ED has found that direct investment by the erstwhile Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund into Anil Ambani Group financial companies was not legally possible due to SEBI’s mutual fund conflict‑of‑interest framework. In violation of these guidelines, the money invested by the general public in the mutual fund was routed indirectly through Yes Bank exposures, which ultimately landed with Anil Ambani Group companies,” the spokesperson said.

The probe also reveals that funds were routed indirectly through Yes Bank’s exposures to RHFL and RCFL, while RHFL and RCFL extended loans to entities linked to the Reliance Anil Ambani group. “The fund‑tracing by ED found diversion of funds, on‑lending to group‑linked entities and ultimate siphoning off. Substantial portions of corporate loans (General Purpose Corporate Loans) ultimately landed in accounts of Reliance group companies. While extending these loans, serious control failures are found by ED,” the spokesperson said.

Investigation has also revealed that the loans to group-linked companies were speed‑processed without core prudential checks. “Many loans were processed on the same day as application, sanction and agreement, and in some cases, disbursal preceded sanction. The funds were advanced even before the application for a loan, which can be possible only if the applicant time-travelled. Field investigation and personal discussions were waived,” the spokesperson added.

During the investigation, ED found many intentional and consistent control failures. “It has been found that documents were left blank, overwritten and undated. Several borrowers had weak financials or negligible operations. Security creation was inadequate or unregistered, and security schedules were left blank, the end use did not match the sanction conditions,” the spokesperson said.

The agency has also intensified its probe into the loan fraud scam involving Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM) and related companies.

“ED has found that these companies diverted over Rs 13,600 crore used in evergreening loans, over Rs 12,600 crore was diverted to connected parties and over Rs 1,800 crore was invested in FDs/MFs etc, which was substantially liquidated for rerouting to group entities. Huge misuse of bill discounting for the purpose of funnelling funds to connected parties has also been detected by ED,” the spokesperson alleged.