The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has arrested Amar Nath Dutta, marking the third arrest in a money laundering investigation involving Reliance Power, an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Group company. The case revolves around a fraudulent bank guarantee worth over Rs 68 crore issued to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power, officials said.
The agency said SECI suffered a loss of over Rs 100 crore due to fraudulent bank guarantees submitted by Reliance Power subsidiary.
Dutta was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), with the agency securing four days of custody for questioning. According to the ED, Dutta, a resident of Kolkata, claimed to provide consultancy services in trade financing. The agency alleged that he played an active role in providing fake bank guarantees.
On October 11, ED had arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, former Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power, and Partha Sarathi Biswal, Managing Director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd (BTPL). The agency had earlier alleged that BTPL fraudulently arranged and submitted fake bank guarantees of Rs 68 crore, along with forged SBI endorsements and fabricated confirmations for a SECI tender. For providing this bank guarantee, Rs 5.40 crore was received by BTPL from Reliance Power Ltd, the agency had said.
The case originates from a November 2024 FIR lodged by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW).
Reliance Group clarified that Anil Ambani has not been on Reliance Power’s board for over three-and-a-half years and is unconnected to the matter. Reliance Power described itself as a “victim of fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy,” disclosing the issue to stock exchanges on November 7, 2024.
The agency has also summoned Anil Ambani for questioning on November 14 in a money laundering case linked to an alleged bank fraud case at State Bank of India. The ED is investigating allegations of illegal diversion of public money by various companies of ADA group.