Rs 24,000-crore PMLA probe: ED raids 35 sites linked to Anil Ambani group, skips his home

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday searched multiple locations linked to Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group as part of an ongoing probe into alleged money laundering involving more than Rs 24,000 crore, people aware of the development said.

The search operations covered more than 50 companies and over 25 people at 35 places across the country. The Mumbai residence of the industrialist was not among the locations searched, the sources said.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) companies Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power, in identical regulatory filings, sought to distance themselves from the developments, claiming that the ED actions "have absolutely no impact on the business operations, financial performance, employees, shareholders, or any other stakeholders" of the two. Citing media reports, they said the developments appeared to be related to Reliance Communications (Rcom) and Reliance Home Finance (RHFL) and over transactions that were more than 10 years old.

They said Anil Ambani resigned from the board of bankrupt Rcom in 2019 and currently is not on the board of any ADAG companies. Both companies clarified that they have "no business or financial linkage" to Rcom or RHFL, but did not say whether the ED searched their premises or not.

The ED's investigation, based on inputs from the National Housing Bank, Sebi, National Financial Reporting Authority and Bank of Baroda, focuses on a series of complex financial transactions involving public sector banks and private entities.

One key aspect of the probe involves loans sanctioned by Yes Bank, Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda to various entities of the group, and a related Rs 2,850 crore investment made by Reliance Mutual Fund in Yes Bank's bonds. The ED suspects these transactions may have involved quid pro quo deals.

Investigators have flagged several alleged irregularities involving the group, including loan disbursals to financially unstable firms, common directors and registered addresses across borrower companies, loans sanctioned and released on the same day and evergreening of loans through onward lending, the people cited earlier said.

According to these people, around Rs 3,000 crore in loans were allegedly diverted between 2017 and 2019. The ED claims that money flowed into entities linked to Yes Bank's promoters just prior to loan disbursals, indicating possible kickbacks.

Sebi had shared findings related to RHFL, highlighting a dramatic surge in its corporate loan book: from Rs 3,742.6 crore in FY18 to Rs 8,670.8 crore in FY19.

The ED is also probing transactions involving Reliance Infrastructure, which allegedly routed large amounts disguised as inter-corporate deposits to entities linked to ADAG via an undisclosed related party.