MUMBAI, Apr 16 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Amitabh Jhunjhunwala and Amit Bapna, close associates of industrialist Anil Ambani, on Thursday, according to an official statement.
The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on multiple cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Allegedly, Jhunjhunwala, who was the director of Reliance Capital Limited, was one of the key decision-makers in various operations of Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL).
Anil Ambani-linked companies allegedly laundered more than Rs 40,000 crore. In the money laundering case, investigating agencies have seized assets worth about Rs 17,000 crore so far including a luxurious house worth Rs 3,700 crore.
During investigations by the CBI and the ED, industrialist Anil Ambani often claimed that he stepped down from the board of directors of the companies being probed, in 2017 itself.
Earlier in April, the CBI had registered a case against Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom), Anil Ambani himself, unknown public servants, and unknown others for allegedly causing wrongful loss of Rs 3,750 crore to the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India.
The CBI case was registered based on a complaint received from LIC for alleged conspiracy, cheating, misappropriation and offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, according to an official statement.
Allegedly, LIC was fraudulently induced to subscribe to Non Convertible Debentures (NCDs) worth Rs 4,500 crore based on false representations made by Reliance Communications Ltd and its management regarding the financial health of the company, as well as security and asset cover offered to LIC while subscribing to the NCDs.
Earlier, the CBI had registered three cases against RCom Ltd, Anil Ambani himself and others alleging defrauding many banks.
The CBI also interrogated Anil Ambani at its Delhi headquarters for two days in a row, in connection with the alleged Rs 2,929.05 crore SBI fraud case.
In March, the Supreme Court had stressed the need for a coordinated, fair and time-bound investigation into alleged large-scale bank frauds linked to the Anil Ambani associated Reliance Communications (RCom) and its group entities.
A Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, observed that investigating agencies like the ED and the CBI must “join hands” and work in coordination to unearth the truth.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, April 16, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with a Bombay High Court’s judgment which had classified the loan accounts of Reliance Communications Group of companies as “fraud”, thereby dismissing Anil Ambani’s petition seeking a stay on the Bombay High Court’s order.
After pronouncing its order, the Supreme Court also recorded Anil Ambani’s statement that “he wished to settle the matter with the banks” (Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank and the IDBI Bank) made by his counsel senior advocate Kapil Sibal, amidst vehement opposition from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who appeared for the consortium of banks, which had loaned cash to Anil Ambani-linked companies.
(UNI)
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