The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said its special task force has provisionally attached over 132 acres of land in Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City in Navi Mumbai, worth Rs 4,462.81 crore, as part of an alleged money-laundering probe against the group. The agency also attached properties at Pali Hill, popularly known as the Ambani family’s residence, Reliance Centre in New Delhi, and multiple properties linked to the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, with a combined value of over Rs 7,545 crore.
The enforcement agency also attached 30 properties of Reliance Infrastructure, five of Adhar Property Consultancy, four of Mohanbir Hi-tech Build, and one property each of Gamesa Investment Management, Vihaan43 Realty (earlier known as Kunjbihari Developers), and Campion Properties. Around 43 properties linked to the group in East Godavari, Pune, Thane, Mumbai, Noida, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Goa were also attached by the agency. Land parcels in Ghaziabad/Noida and 29 flats in Chennai (Adyar/OMR-Kottivakkam) valued at Rs 109.61 crore (equivalent value) were also attached, the agency said.
The ED said four orders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act were issued on October 31 to carry out the attachment exercises.
In a statement on Monday, Reliance Infrastructure said: “There is no impact on the business operations, shareholders, employees or any other stakeholders of the company.” Anil D. Ambani has not been on the board of Reliance Infrastructure for more than 3.5 years, the company added.
The ED’s action comes as part of a probe into alleged bank fraud cases involving Reliance Communications (RCOM), Reliance Home Finance (RHFL), and Reliance Commercial Finance (RCFL).
The agency said that Yes Bank had invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL instruments during 2017–2019. “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 ED said.
The probe found that RHFL and RCFL received public funds of more than Rs 10,000 crore. “A large amount came from Yes Bank. Before Yes Bank invested this money in Reliance Anil Ambani Group companies, the bank had received huge funds from the erstwhile Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund. As per Sebi regulations, Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund could not invest or divert funds directly into Anil Ambani Group finance companies due to conflict-of-interest rules. Therefore, public money in mutual fund schemes was routed indirectly through Yes Bank’s exposures. The public funds reached Anil Ambani Group companies through a circuitous route,” the ED said.
So far, the ED has detected “fraudulent diversion” of public money by various Anil Ambani Group companies, including RCFL, RHFL, RIL, and Reliance Power.
“From around 2010–12 onwards, RCOM and its group companies raised thousands of crores from Indian banks, of which a total amount of Rs 40,185 crore is outstanding. Five banks have declared the group’s loan accounts as fraud,” the ED noted. The agency said that RCOM and its group companies diverted over Rs 13,600 crore for evergreening loans, over Rs 12,600 crore to associated companies, and over Rs 1,800 crore was invested in fixed deposits and mutual funds, which were substantially liquidated and rerouted to group entities.