ED summons Anil Ambani again over alleged bank fraud
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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday issued a fresh summons to Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, asking him to appear for questioning on November 14 in connection with its ongoing money laundering probe into alleged bank fraud, sources said. This will be Ambani’s second appearance before the agency, following his previous questioning in August.
The summons comes days after the ED attached assets worth Rs 4,462 crore linked to Ambani’s group companies. Earlier this week, the agency also seized about 132 acres of land at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai, valued at roughly Rs 7,545 crore, in connection with the Reliance Communications (RCom) bank loan case.
The investigation stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR that named Anil Ambani, RCom, and several others on charges of fraud, criminal conspiracy, and corruption, NDTV reported.
The probe focuses on loans amounting to over Rs 40,000 crore taken by RCom and its affiliates from national and international banks between 2010 and 2012, five of which have since been declared fraudulent.
According to findings cited by the ED, investigators have uncovered a complex network of financial irregularities, including an estimated Rs 13,600 crore allegedly diverted through “loan evergreening” — a method used to disguise bad loans as new ones.
The agency also suspects that more than Rs 12,600 crore was transferred to related entities, while about Rs 1,800 crore was allegedly cycled through fixed deposits and mutual funds before being reinvested into group companies.
The probe has additionally revealed the possible misuse of bill discounting schemes to transfer money to shell firms and the movement of funds overseas.
The ED stated that its ongoing investigation aims to trace and recover all misused or diverted funds, including those that may have been transferred abroad.