ADAG-Bank Fraud Case: CBI searches underway in premises linked to Anil Ambani & RCom

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched an investigation into an alleged bank fraud case linked to the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), widening the scrutiny that was first initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

On Saturday, CBI teams carried out searches at multiple locations in Mumbai, including premises connected to ADAG promoter Anil Ambani, officials aware of the development said.

ADAG wasn’t immediately available for a comment. In the case they have denied all the allegations.


Sources says that the CBI’s action could have stemmed from a 2022 preliminary enquiry (PE) by the agency into loans sanctioned by Yes Bank to ADAG firms. The enquiry had found evidence suggesting corruption and misuse of office by the bank’s arrested co-founder Rana Kapoor, and recommended filing of FIRs against Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL), Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL), Kapoor and associated entities, these sources added.

According to the PE, Kapoor had approved financial assistance to ADAG companies without adequate risk assessment, bypassed mandatory credit appraisal memorandums, and cleared proposals via email in violation of Yes Bank’s lending norms.

The ED is already probing the group for alleged money laundering, having conducted searches across multiple cities in July. Anil Ambani appeared before the agency on August 5 in Delhi, seeking additional time to furnish documents requested in the case.

The ED’s case draws on inputs from the National Housing Bank, SEBI, the National Financial Reporting Authority, and Bank of Baroda, and focuses on a series of complex transactions between public and private lenders. Investigators are looking closely at loans extended by Yes Bank, Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda to ADAG-linked entities, along with a ₹2,850-crore investment by Reliance Mutual Fund in Yes Bank bonds, which are suspected to have involved quid pro quo arrangements.

Officials have flagged a pattern of alleged irregularities, including loan disbursals to weak firms with common directors and addresses, sanction and disbursal of loans on the same day, evergreening of loans through onward lending, and diversion of about ₹3,000 crore between 2017 and 2019 into entities tied to Yes Bank promoters—suggesting possible kickbacks.

Separately, SEBI had earlier raised concerns over unusual growth in Reliance Home Finance Ltd.’s corporate loan book, which nearly doubled from ₹3,742.6 crore in FY18 to ₹8,670.8 crore in FY19. The ED is also examining transactions at Reliance Infrastructure, which allegedly routed large inter-corporate deposits to an ADAG-linked company via an undisclosed related party that was kept out of statutory filings.