New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached properties in at least eight cities including a family residence in Mumbai’ Pali Hill as part of a probe against Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, NDTV reported.
Assets attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act following orders issued on October 31 include residential units, office premises, and land parcels spread across Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Hyderabad, Chennai, and East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.
Attaching the properties valuing approximately at Rs 3,084 crore is part of an ongoing probe into the alleged diversion and laundering of public funds raised by Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL).
According to ED, between 2017 and 2019, Yes Bank invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL and Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL which turned non-performing by 2019 with Rs 1,353.50 crore outstanding for RHFL and Rs 1,984 crore for RCFL, NDTV reported.
It is reported citing the probe that funds collected from the general public through Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund were allegedly routed indirectly via Yes Bank's exposures to RHFL and RCFL, eventually reaching in Anil Ambani's companies.
The Enforcement Directorate reportedly said that it has uncovered large scale fund diversion and on-lending of funds to group’s associated entities leading to ‘intentional and consistent control failures’.
It is found that in some cases loans were given even before applications were submitted and processed on the same day of application and sanction alongside security documents were found blank or undated.
The central agency announced that it would continue tracing the proceeds of the crime alongside securing attached properties, thus recoveries will safeguard public interest and protect investors’ funds.