ED questions Anil Ambani in Rs 17,000-cr loan fraud probe

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday questioned Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani in connection with its money laundering probe into an alleged ₹17,000 crore bank loan fraud case.

Ambani reached the ED office at 11 am and the questioning lasted more than nine hours, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Ambani has sought seven days to furnish documents pertaining to the queries posed to him by the ED, they said.

The agency will summon the 66-year-old industrialist again after recording the statements of credit committee members, according to the people.


The ED will question Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, a former close aide of Ambani, on Wednesday. On Thursday, it will question another close aide, Sateesh Seth of Reliance Group.

ET was the first to report on August 1 that the ED had summoned Anil Ambani for questioning in connection with the alleged bank loan fraud case.

ET was the first to report on Monday that the ED would summon officials of private and public sector banks which had given loans to Reliance Group for questioning. The agency will seek details from the bank officials on the action initiated by them, if any, against Anil Ambani's companies which failed to repay the loans, ET had reported.

"We want to ascertain what action did banks take against the companies which failed to repay the loans taken from them (banks). Did they complain to the police, seek registration of an FIR (first information report) against the companies or not?" a senior official had told ET on the condition of anonymity.

Nearly 20 private and public sector banks had given loans to Anil Ambani's entities over a period of time which eventually turned into non-performing assets. Three entities of Reliance Group - Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd. (RCFL) and Reliance Communications (RCom) - were given a total of about ₹17,000 crore by the banks.

According to data available with the ED, RHFL has an outstanding loan of more than ₹5,901 crore, while the amount in the case of RCFL is about ₹8,226 crore and RCom owes nearly ₹4,105 crore.

Besides YES Bank, the other banks which had given loans to Reliance Group include State Bank of India, UCO Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of India and Punjab and Sind Bank.

A look out circular (LOC) has also been issued against Anil Ambani at the request of the ED. Minutes after issuing summons to Ambani last Thursday, the agency sent a request to issue an LOC against the industrialist.

The ED last week carried out searches at multiple entities and individuals linked to Anil Ambani's Reliance Group over 35 locations in Mumbai, covering 50 companies and 25 individuals, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.