MUMBAI, Aug 5: Industrialist Anil Ambani was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday at its headquarters in New Delhi in an alleged money laundering case, linked to an alleged multi-crore bank loan diversion fraud.
No lawyer was present during the entire questioning session which was videographed after Anil Ambani reached the ED headquarters at 11 am on Tuesday to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), sources said.
Significantly, statements recorded under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are admissible as evidence in court.
According to sources, ED officials asked Anil Ambani questions like, “Were loans diverted to shell companies ” He also faced questions like, “Was any money given to political parties ” and “Did you bribe any officer ”
Before the ED summoned Anil Ambani for questioning on Tuesday at the ED’s Delhi office, the agency had issued a lookout circular (LOC) against him in connection with the alleged Rs 3,000-crore loan fraud involving Yes Bank.
An LOC is issued to prevent individuals from leaving the country while they are under investigation. LOCs are circulated to all airports and seaports, alerting immigration officials to detain the individual under investigation, if they attempt to flee from India.
The ED is probing the alleged diversion of loans worth Rs 3,000 crore disbursed to Reliance Group companies by Yes Bank between 2017 and 2019.
Investigators suspect that payments were allegedly made to Yes Bank promoters before the loans were actually sanctioned, pointing to a possible quid pro quo.
It may be recalled that the ED had raided several locations connected to the case on July 24. The searches which lasted for three days were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Later, the ED issued a statement on Monday that it has arrested Partha Sarathi Biswal, the managing director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd (BTPL) based in Odisha, on Saturday, for allegedly providing fake bank guarantees worth Rs 68.2 crore to Reliance Power Ltd for a Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) tender.
The ED had stated that it plans to confront arrested Biswal face-to-face with Anil Ambani when Ambani will be questioned at the ED’s Delhi headquarters in an alleged money laundering case, linked to an alleged multi-crore bank loan fraud committed by the Anil Ambani-led Reliance ADA group.
“An investigation has revealed that BTPL had fraudulently arranged as well as submitted fake bank guarantees of Rs 68.2 crores along with forged SBI endorsements and fabricated confirmations for a Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) tender. For providing this bank guarantee, Rs 5.40 crore was received by BTPL (as commission) from Reliance Power Ltd,” according to the ED statement.
Allegedly, Biswal ran a “fake” bank guarantee issuance racket for business groups and his company BTPL is suspected of providing a “fake” bank guarantee worth Rs 68.2 crores to an Anil Ambani-led Reliance ADA group company, according to the ED.
BTPL MD Biswal was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after searches at the company’s premises in Bhubaneswar, as well as an “associate” entity in Kolkata.
According to an ED investigation, BTPL allegedly arranged fraudulent bank guarantees worth about Rs 68 crores, backed by forged endorsements from the State Bank of India (SBI) using spoofed emails.
Allegedly, the “fake” BTPL bank guarantees were used to provide assurance for a Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) tender, on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, which is a subsidiary of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power.
However, a Reliance ADA group spokesperson had stated on Friday that the company had been a “victim of fraud, forgery, as well as cheating conspiracy”, and that the company had made all necessary disclosures to stock exchanges on November 7, 2024.
(UNI(
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