The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a fresh case against Anil Ambani and Reliance Communications (RCOM) for allegedly cheating the Bank of Baroda and causing a loss of over Rs 2,220 crore to the bank.
The fresh case was registered against Anil Ambani and Reliance Communications following a complaint by Bank of Baroda on Tuesday. In a statement, a CBI spokesperson said that the agency has conducted search operations at Anil Ambani’s residence Reliance Communications office. It added that the agency has recovered various documents related to loan transactions.
“The allegations in the FIR are that Bank of Baroda has suffered a loss of more than Rs 2,220 crore due to the loans availed by Reliance Communications, which were allegedly diverted and misutilized by creating fictitious transactions with related parties,” the spokesperson said.
Accusations by Bank of Baroda
In its complaint, Bank of Baroda accused Anil Ambani and Reliance Communications of misusing the sanction amount for purposes other than those sanctioned. The bank also accused Ambani and RCOM of manipulating the books of account to conceal irregularities and misrepresent their financial status, diverting loan proceeds, and recycling and layering funds to camouflage true fund flows, among others.
The complaint said Reliance Communications, Reliance Infratel, and Reliance Telecom cumulatively received Rs 31,580 crore from banks and financial institutions and of these, Rs 6,265.85 crore was utilised for repayment of other banks’ loans, Rs 5,501.56 crore for payment to related/connected parties, and Rs 3,674.85 crore for investment in fixed deposits and mutual funds.
The complaint stated that these investments were liquidated immediately and utilised for payments to related and unrelated parties, indicating that the loan amount was utilised in violation of the terms of the sanction.
The bank has alleged loan funds of Rs 1,783.65 crore raised by RITL were utilised by RCOM through Reliance Communications Infrastructure Ltd (RCIL) to pay its liability or transferred to related parties.
“The account was classified as NPA w.e.f. June 5, 2017 due to persistent defaults in repayment obligations and irregularities in fund utilization. Subsequent forensic investigation confirmed diversion and misappropriation of funds, establishing fraudulent intent,” it alleged.
A new case in addition to ongoing 11 complaints
The CBI has already registered a case against RCOM based on a complaint lodged by SBI, the lead bank of a consortium of 11 banks.
“However, the Bank of Baroda was not part of the said consortium, and this is a different loan availed by the Reliance Communications from Bank of Baroda, the then Vijaya Bank and the then Dena Bank,” the spokesperson said.
According to the CBI officials, the account was declared a non-performing asset in 2017 itself.
Earlier today, Ambani appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here for a second round of questioning in connection with an alleged bank fraud-linked money laundering case.
Officials in the agency said they have recorded his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).