New Delhi, India — The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached additional properties belonging to companies under the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, seizing assets worth Rs 1,452.51 crore in an ongoing money laundering investigation.
According to the agency, the newly attached assets include multiple buildings within the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) and Millennium Business Park in Navi Mumbai, as well as land parcels and structures located in Pune, Chennai, and Bhubaneswar. The attachments were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The latest action comes on top of earlier attachments worth more than Rs 7,545 crore linked to alleged bank fraud involving Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd., and Reliance Home Finance Ltd. With Thursday’s action, the total value of attached assets in these cases now stands at Rs 8,997 crore.
The ED initiated its probe based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR filed under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act against RCOM, Anil Ambani, and others. Investigators said RCOM and its associated companies obtained loans from both domestic and foreign lenders between 2010 and 2012, with a total outstanding amount of Rs 40,185 crore. Nine banks have classified the group’s loan accounts as fraudulent.
The agency said its investigation showed that loans taken by one group entity were used to repay loans of others, transferred to related parties, or invested in mutual funds—actions allegedly violating the terms of various loan sanction letters. ED officials said more than Rs 13,600 crore was diverted to evergreen existing loans, over Rs 12,600 crore was sent to connected parties, and over Rs 1,800 crore was invested in fixed deposits and mutual funds, much of which was later liquidated and routed back to group entities.
“ED is actively pursuing perpetrators of financial crimes and is committed to restituting Proceeds of Crime to their rightful claimants. Further investigation is in progress,” the agency said in its statement.
Meanwhile, Reliance ADA Group Chairman Anil Ambani has skipped ED summons for a second time in a separate FEMA investigation tied to the Jaipur–Reengus highway project. He has requested permission to appear virtually. (Source: IANS)
