Trouble continues to mount for businessman Anil Ambani as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a fresh FIR against him, Reliance Communications
(RCOM) and others in a bank fraud case worth Rs 1,085 crore. The complainant in the case is Punjab National Bank (PNB). The anti-corruption probe agency has filed the FIR under sections related to cheating, criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Times Now has accessed a copy of the FIR, which states that a complaint was received on March 2 from PNB against: (1) M/s Reliance Communications Limited (company); (2) Anil Dhirajlal Ambani, erstwhile director of Reliance Communications Limited; (3) Manjari Ashok Kacker, erstwhile director of Reliance Communications Limited; and (4) unknown persons and unknown public servants. They have been accused of allegedly inducing and thereby cheating Punjab National Bank and the United Bank of India (since merged with PNB) during the period between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2017, causing a wrongful loss of Rs 1,085.19 crore to the banks — Rs 621.39 crore to Punjab National Bank and Rs 463.80 crore to United Bank of India. “The aforesaid complaint from Punjab National Bank, prima facie, discloses commission of offences under Sections 120B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 on the part of M/s Reliance Communications Limited, Shri Anil Dhirajlal Ambani, Smt Manjari Ashok Kacker, unknown persons and unknown public servants,” the FIR said. Last month, the CBI had also registered a fresh case against Anil Ambani and RCOM based on a complaint filed by Bank of Baroda. “The allegations in the FIR are that Bank of Baroda has suffered a loss of more than Rs 2,220 crore due to loans availed by M/s Reliance Communications which were allegedly diverted and mis-utilised by creating fictitious transactions with related parties. The books of accounts of M/s Reliance Communications Ltd were manipulated and irregularities concealed,” the CBI said in a statement. “The account was declared a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) in 2017 itself. However, based on a petition filed by Anil Ambani before the Bombay High Court, there was a stay on the declaration of the accounts as fraud. The stay was vacated on February 23, after which Bank of Baroda lodged the complaint and the CBI immediately took up the case,” the agency said. The CBI is also investigating Reliance Communications based on a complaint lodged by the State Bank of India (SBI), the lead bank of a consortium of 11 banks. The alleged bank fraud in this case is worth Rs 40,000 crore. On the day the CBI registered the second FIR against him, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was questioning Anil Ambani in a money laundering probe linked to the SBI bank fraud case. He was let off after nearly 10 hours of questioning. The Enforcement Directorate has also provisionally attached his residence in Pali Hill, valued at around Rs 3,761 crore. The total attachments in the money laundering investigations involving the Anil Ambani Group of Companies now stand at around Rs 15,000 crore. “ED investigation has revealed that, among other assets, the Pali Hill property was aggregated into the RiseE Trust — a private family trust of the members of Mr Anil Ambani’s family. This was done to make it appear as though Mr Anil Ambani is not involved,” the ED said in a statement. “The intended effect of this corporate restructuring was to ensure wealth preservation and resource generation by aggregating the property in the RiseE Trust and shielding it from the personal liabilities of Mr Anil Ambani in the form of personal guarantees extended by him to lender banks against loans sanctioned to RCOM. The property was intended to be beneficially used and owned by the Anil Ambani family and not for the distressed public sector banks whose loans turned NPAs,” the ED claimed. Anil Ambani, however, has consistently denied the charges. In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, Ambani assured that he would cooperate with the agencies and would not leave the country. The affidavit was filed in response to a writ petition filed by EAS Sarma seeking a court-monitored investigation into the alleged loan fraud of over Rs 40,000 crore by ADAG companies.
