Anil Ambani’s Troubles Deepen: ED to Grill Bankers in ₹17,000 Crore Loan Fraud Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken a big step in the alleged loan fraud case of Rs 17,000 crore related to Anil Ambani's companies.

The investigating agency has sent a letter to the management of 12-13 banks seeking complete information about the loans given to Anil Ambani Group. These loans later became non-performing assets (NPAs). According to sources, if the answers of the banks are not satisfactory, then the bankers can be called for questioning.

The ED issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against Anil Ambani on Friday and has summoned him for questioning on August 5.

This case is related to the loans given to Reliance Housing Finance, Reliance Communications and Reliance Commercial Finance.

Full details sought from banks

ED has sought information from banks like State Bank of India, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, UCO Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank about the loan approval process, time limit of default and steps taken for recovery.

Sources say that if any deficiency is found in the answers, the bankers may have to appear before the investigating agency. Apart from this, ED had searched 35 locations in Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against 50 companies and 25 people associated with Anil Ambani's Reliance Group.

Fake bank guarantee exposed

The investigation revealed that Anil Ambani's companies had given a fake bank guarantee of Rs 68.2 crore to Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). This guarantee was given in the name of Reliance NU BESS Limited and Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited, which are associated with Ambani's ADAG Group.

ED claims that to make the fake guarantee look real, a fake email domain "s-bi.co.in" was used, which is similar to the real domain of State Bank of India "sbi.co.in".

ED has sought registration details of this fake domain from National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) to find out the truth behind it.

ED is investigating this matter deeply and more big revelations are expected after questioning Anil Ambani. The investigating agency is trying to find out how the loan amount was misused and whether there was collusion of banks in this.

Anil Ambani's companies have been accused of financial irregularities earlier also, but this time the matter has become more serious due to ED's strictness. More big results of this investigation can come out in the coming days.