The directorate of enforcement (ED) has once again summoned Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) group chairman Anil Ambani for questioning in a money-laundering and bank fraud investigation involving alleged fund diversion and bad loans totalling around Rs17,000 crore. The 66-year-old businessman has been asked to appear before the agency on 14th November for a fresh round of questioning, say media reports.
This is the second time Mr Ambani has been called by the agency, after his earlier appearance in August.
The case is linked to multiple complaints of financial irregularities involving Anil Ambani’s group companies, including Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM), Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL), Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (R-Infra) and Reliance Power Ltd. Investigators allege that these entities availed massive loans from public and private sector lenders and then diverted the funds in violation of banking regulations.
According to ED officials, the ongoing probe stems from a first information report (FIR) filed by central bureau of investigation (CBI) under Sections 120-B, 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The complaint named RCOM, Anil Ambani and other senior executives as accused. The investigation covers loans obtained from both domestic and foreign banks between 2010 and 2012, with the outstanding dues now exceeding Rs40,000 crore. Five banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI), have declared the Reliance ADA group’s loan accounts as fraudulent, the agency said.
The directorate has alleged that a significant portion of the borrowed money was misused or diverted. “Loans taken by one entity were utilised for repayment of loans by other group entities, transferred to related parties, or invested in mutual funds — all in violation of loan terms,” ED says in a statement earlier this week.
Investigators claim that over Rs13,600 crore was used for 'evergreening' loans, Rs12,600 crore was diverted to connected parties and about Rs1,800 crore was invested in fixed deposits and mutual funds which were later liquidated and rerouted to group companies. The agency has also uncovered misuse of bill-discounting facilities to funnel funds and instances of foreign remittances allegedly used to siphon money overseas.
As part of the same probe, ED has provisionally attached properties worth over Rs7,500 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The attachments include: 132 acres of land valued at Rs4,462.81 crore in Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC), Navi Mumbai, and 42 other properties worth Rs3,083 crore linked to RCOM, RCFL and RHFL. The total value of attached assets now exceeds Rs7,545 crore, according to agency records.
According to media reports, the summons to Mr Ambani is part of a larger effort to trace the ultimate beneficiaries of the funds and to determine whether corporate and personal accounts were used to launder money or conceal proceeds of crime.
The case against Mr Ambani’s group companies began after banks reported large-scale defaults and discrepancies in loan utilisation. State Bank of India (SBI) alone has alleged a loss of Rs2,929 crore in a complaint related to RCOM, which owed over Rs40,000 crore to multiple lenders as of 2018. The alleged financial mismanagement and fund diversion across Reliance ADA group companies have since become part of one of the largest corporate fraud and money-laundering investigations currently underway in India.
Anil Ambani has not issued any public statement on the latest summons. Earlier, his representatives have maintained that all group transactions were conducted within the framework of law and regulatory compliance.
Earlier this week, ED provisionally attached more than 132 acres of land in the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) complex at Navi Mumbai, valued at over Rs4,462 crore, in connection with the ongoing money-laundering investigation into the Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM) bank fraud case. The attachment has been made under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
The special task force (STF) at the ED headquarters has carried out the provisional attachment, following an investigation initiated on the basis of a first information report (FIR) registered by central bureau of investigation (CBI) against RCOM, its promoter Anil Ambani and others. The FIR had been registered under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, along with sections 13(2) and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1989.
According to ED, RCOM and its associated companies had availed loans worth about Rs40,185 crore from both domestic and foreign lenders between 2010 and 2012. At least five banks have since classified these loan accounts as fraudulent.
The agency’s investigation has uncovered what it describes as large-scale diversion and misuse of funds. Loans taken from one bank were allegedly used to repay loans from another, or transferred to related entities, in clear violation of lending terms. ED says over Rs13,600 crore was diverted for 'evergreening' of loans, while Rs12,600 crore was transferred to connected parties. An additional Rs1,800 crore was parked in fixed deposits and mutual funds before being liquidated and routed back to group entities. (Read:
ED Attaches Rs4,462-crore Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City Land in RCom Bank Fraud Case)
On 31 October 2025, ED had provisionally attached more than 42 properties of the Reliance ADA group valued at over Rs3,083 crore under PMLA. These included: assets of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, Adhar Property Consultancy Pvt Ltd, Mohanbir Hi-Tech Build Pvt Ltd, Gamesa Investment Management Pvt Ltd, Vihaan43 Realty Pvt Ltd (formerly Kunjbihari Developers Pvt Ltd), and Campion Properties Ltd. (Read:
Anil Ambani’s Mumbai Home, Delhi Properties Among Rs3,084 Crore Assets Attached by ED)
Among the high-profile assets previously attached were: the Pali Hill residence, the Reliance Centre on Maharaja Ranjeet Singh Marg in New Delhi, and several commercial and residential properties located across Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kancheepuram, and East Godavari.
The October 2025 attachments were part of ongoing investigations into alleged bank frauds involving RCOM’s borrowings from the State Bank of India and those by Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL) and Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) from Yes Bank.
The latest move marks one of the largest property attachments by ED in a corporate loan fraud case linked to a major business conglomerate. Officials say the STF is continuing to identify assets held in the names of group entities and individuals connected to the alleged laundering of bank funds.
ED officials say that the agency’s focus remains on ensuring that proceeds of crime, often hidden through complex corporate structures, are recovered and returned to the financial institutions defrauded in these cases.
ED has pegged the overall scale of financial irregularities across the Reliance group at over Rs17,000 crore, covering multiple lending transactions and alleged fund diversions between 2006 and 2019.
Adding to Mr Ambani’s troubles, investigative platform Cobrapost recently published a report alleging that the Reliance ADA group had engaged in 'a massive banking fraud' totalling about Rs28,874 crore since 2006. The report claimed that funds raised through bank loans, public issues, and bonds by several listed ADAG companies were siphoned off through a complex network of shell entities and layered transactions.
ED’s ongoing actions mark a significant escalation in the scrutiny of the Reliance ADA group which has faced multiple regulatory and financial setbacks over the past decade. The group’s telecom venture, RCOM, went bankrupt in 2019, while several of its infrastructure and finance companies have been battling debt defaults and insolvency proceedings.
Officials say the attached assets will remain under provisional attachment for 180 days, during which ED will move the adjudicating authority under PMLA to confirm the attachment. Once confirmed, the assets may be subject to further confiscation proceedings if the agency determines that they represent the proceeds of a crime.
You may also want to read...
