The Enforcement Directorate has attached fresh assets worth Rs 1,120 crore as part of its alleged money laundering probe against the companies of Reliance Group of Anil Ambani, a PTI report said
The PTI report stated that 18 properties, including the Reliance Centre in Mumbai’s Ballard Estate, fixed deposits, bank balances, and shareholdings in unquoted investments of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group, have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED has also attached another set of seven properties of Reliance Infrastructure, two properties of Reliance Power and nine properties of other Reliance Group companies.
Earlier, the agency had attached properties worth over Rs 8,997 crore in the bank fraud cases related to Reliance Communications, Reliance Commercial Finance, and Reliance Home Finance. The total attachment in the case against the Reliance Group is now Rs 10,117 crore.
Fund diversion allegation
As per an ANI report, the ED investigations have revealed large-scale diversion of public money by Reliance group companies, including RCOM, RHFL, RCFL, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power.
The agency said that between 2017 and 2019, Yes Bank invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL and Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL instruments, which later became non-performing assets. The probe further alleges that over Rs 11,000 crore of public money was funnelled through mutual fund investments and Yes Bank lending, circumventing SEBI conflict-of-interest rules, the report said.
The report adds that ED maintains that the funds reached the companies through a “circuitous route” involving Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund and Yes Bank.
Bank fraud investigation
Separately, ED is probing a Central Bureau of Investigation FIR filed against RCOM, Anil Ambani and associates regarding loans worth Rs 40,185 crore taken between 2010 and 2012.
Nine banks have declared these accounts fraudulent. The agency claims over Rs 13,600 crore was diverted for loan evergreening, Rs 12,600 crore was sent to associated entities, and more than Rs 1,800 crore was parked in investments before being redirected.