ED attaches ₹4,462 crore prime Navi Mum land in Reliance Communications fraud case

In a major crackdown on alleged financial malfeasance, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached a massive 132-acre land parcel in the upscale Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC), Navi Mumbai, with a book value of ₹4,462.81 crores. The action is part of the ongoing money laundering investigation into the multi-thousand crore bank fraud case involving Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM) and its sister concerns.

This latest attachment significantly escalates the financial scale of the probe, pushing the cumulative value of attached properties in the case to over ₹7,545 crores. The ED’s Special Task Force at Headquarters took the action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The investigation was initiated based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) First Information Report (FIR) that invoked charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and cheating under the Indian Penal Code, alongside charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1989. The FIR names Reliance communications, its former Chairman Anil Ambani, and other officials.

According to the ED, Reliance Communications and its group companies availed loans from a consortium of domestic and foreign banks starting around 2010-2012. A staggering amount of ₹40,185 crores remains outstanding from these loans, with five banks having officially declared the accounts as “fraud.”

Diversion and siphoning of funds

The ED’s probe has uncovered a complex web of alleged fund diversion. The agency claims that loans obtained by one entity from a specific bank were systematically misused for several purposes contrary to the loan sanction terms. Key findings include:

• Evergreening of loans: Over ₹13,600 crore was allegedly used to repay loans of other group entities, a practice known as “evergreening” that masks financial stress.
• Diversion to connected parties: More than ₹12,600 crore was diverted to related and connected parties.
• Misuse of financial instruments: Over ₹1,800 crore was invested in Fixed Deposits and Mutual Funds, which were later liquidated and rerouted back to group companies.
• Bill discounting fraud: The agency detected “huge misuse” of bill discounting facilities to funnel money to connected parties.
• Siphoning abroad: A portion of the loan funds was also allegedly siphoned off outside India through foreign outward remittances.

“The total attachment in these cases stands at over Rs.7,545 crores. ED is actively pursuing perpetrators of financial crime and is committed to restituting Proceeds of Crime to their rightful claimants,” the agency stated, adding that further investigation is underway.

Anil Ambani Group’s response

In response to the action, a spokesperson for the Anil Ambani group issued a statement seeking to distance the current operations of other group entities from the case.

“We wish to inform that certain assets of the Company have been provisionally attached by ED for the alleged violations under PMLA,” the spokesperson said. They further clarified, “There is no impact on the business operations, shareholders, employees or any other stakeholders of Reliance Infrastructure Limited. Anil Ambani is not on the Board of Reliance Infrastructure Limited for more than 3.5 years.”

This high-value attachment marks one of the most significant actions by the financial probe agency this year and underscores the continuing legal and financial challenges facing the debt-laden entities once under the umbrella of Anil Ambani’s business empire.

Also See: Bank of Maharashtra classifies Reliance Communications loan account as fraud