Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jan 28: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally seized assets worth Rs 1,885 crore belonging to companies associated with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group, intensifying its crackdown in multiple bank fraud investigations.
According to an official statement issued on Wednesday, the attachment covers properties, bank deposits, receivables, and shareholdings in unlisted investments connected to cases involving Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL), Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM), and the Yes Bank-linked fraud.
Among the key assets attached are equity holdings of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd in BSES Yamuna Power Ltd, BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, and Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd. The ED has also provisionally frozen bank balances amounting to Rs 148 crore and receivables worth Rs 143 crore held by Value Corp Finance and Securities Ltd.
In addition, a residential property registered in the name of Angarai Sethuraman and investments in shares and mutual funds linked to Puneet Garg—both senior executives within the Reliance Group—have also been attached as part of the probe.
With this latest action, the ED said the total value of assets attached across ongoing investigations into RCOM, RCFL, and RHFL has crossed Rs 12,000 crore. Earlier attachments in these cases alone exceeded Rs 10,117 crore.
Investigators allege large-scale diversion and misuse of public funds by multiple Reliance Group entities, including RCOM, RHFL, RCFL, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, and Reliance Power Ltd. The agency’s findings indicate that during 2017–2019, Yes Bank invested nearly Rs 5,000 crore in debt instruments of RHFL and RCFL. These investments later turned non-performing, leaving outstanding dues of over Rs 3,300 crore by the end of 2019.
The ED claims that prior to these investments, Yes Bank itself had received substantial funds from the then Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund. Due to conflict-of-interest restrictions under SEBI norms, the mutual fund could not directly invest in Anil Ambani group finance companies. As a result, public money was allegedly routed indirectly through Yes Bank, eventually reaching the Reliance entities.
Separately, the ED is also probing cases based on FIRs filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation against Anil Ambani, RCOM, and others under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The investigation relates to loans worth Rs 40,185 crore taken from domestic and international lenders since 2010–12, with nine banks having classified the accounts as fraudulent.
The agency alleged that funds borrowed by one group company were routinely used to repay loans of another, transferred to related parties, or parked in mutual funds and fixed deposits—violating loan conditions. Investigators estimate that over Rs 13,600 crore was diverted for loan evergreening, Rs 12,600 crore was channelled to connected entities, and more than Rs 1,800 crore was invested in liquid instruments before being rerouted within the group.
The ED also flagged extensive misuse of bill discounting facilities and instances where funds were allegedly siphoned overseas through foreign remittances. The agency said the investigation is ongoing and further action is likely as the probe deepens.