The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth ₹1,885 crore belonging to companies and entities linked to the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, significantly escalating action in multiple high-profile bank fraud investigations. The attachments were executed through four separate Provisional Attachment Orders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to the ED, the latest attachments pertain to ongoing investigations in the Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) and Yes Bank fraud cases, as well as the Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) bank fraud case.
The attached assets include bank balances, receivables, unquoted investments, shareholdings, and immovable properties. A major portion of the attachment comprises shareholding of Reliance Infrastructure Limited in key infrastructure and utility entities such as BSES Yamuna Power Limited, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited and Mumbai Metro One Private Limited—assets that are strategically significant in the power distribution and urban transport sectors.
Additionally, bank balances amounting to ₹148 crore and receivables worth ₹143 crore have been provisionally attached in the hands of M/s Value Corp Finance and Securities Limited. The ED has also attached one residential immovable property registered in the name of Angarai Sethuraman and movable assets, including shares and mutual funds, held in the name of the wife of Puneet Garg. Both individuals are senior employees associated with the Reliance Group.
With this action, the cumulative value of assets attached by the ED in connection with bank fraud cases involving RCOM, RHFL and RCFL has now crossed ₹12,000 crore. Earlier, the agency had provisionally attached properties worth over ₹10,117 crore in these cases.
The ED’s investigation has revealed large-scale fraudulent diversion and laundering of public funds by multiple companies of the Anil Ambani Group, including Reliance Communications Ltd, Reliance Home Finance Ltd, Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd and Reliance Power Ltd.
A key aspect of the probe relates to investments made by Yes Bank between 2017 and 2019. During this period, Yes Bank invested ₹2,965 crore in instruments of RHFL and ₹2,045 crore in RCFL. By December 2019, these investments turned non-performing, with outstanding amounts of ₹1,353.5 crore in RHFL and ₹1,984 crore in RCFL.
The ED has alleged that prior to these investments, Yes Bank had received substantial funds from Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund. Due to SEBI’s conflict-of-interest regulations, the mutual fund was barred from directly investing in Anil Ambani Group finance companies. Investigators claim that public money was therefore routed indirectly through Yes Bank’s exposures, eventually reaching group entities via a circuitous structure.
Separately, the ED has initiated investigation based on FIRs registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. These cases relate to loans availed by RCOM and its group companies from domestic and foreign lenders during 2010–2012, with outstanding dues of ₹40,185 crore. As many as nine banks have classified the group’s loan accounts as fraud.
The investigation has uncovered that loans raised by one entity were used to repay obligations of other group entities, transferred to related parties, or invested in financial instruments in violation of loan sanction terms. The ED has alleged diversion of over ₹13,600 crore for loan evergreening, more than ₹12,600 crore transferred to connected parties, and over ₹1,800 crore invested in fixed deposits and mutual funds that were later liquidated and rerouted. Misuse of bill discounting mechanisms and foreign outward remittances to siphon funds overseas has also been detected.
The ED stated that it remains committed to pursuing financial अपराध perpetrators and ensuring restitution of proceeds of crime to rightful claimants. Further investigation in the matter is currently underway.
