Despite the ongoing money laundering investigation against Anil Ambani, chairman of the Reliance Group, stocks of Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power have seen notable gains. Reliance Infra rose by ₹2.45 (0.92%), while Reliance Power increased by ₹0.16 (0.34%) on the same day. The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday filed a money laundering case against Anil Ambani and Reliance Communications over alleged fraud of more than Rs 2,929 crore to State Bank of India, the Economic Times reported. The case is based on an FIR lodged by the CBI last month. On August 21, the CBI booked RCom, Ambani, unnamed public servants and others for defrauding SBI. CBI officers also searched Ambani's residence and RCom’s offices.
Ambani’s team rejected the charges. "Strongly denying all allegations and charges," a spokesperson had said, claiming he had been "selectively singled out." Following the raids, the spokesperson added, "The search at Anil Ambani’s residence concluded early this afternoon. The complaint filed by SBI pertains to matters dating back more than 10 years. At the relevant time, Mr Ambani was a non-executive director of the company, with no involvement in the day-to-day management."
According to ET, the ED has now expanded the probe and written to nearly 20 private and state-run banks for details of loans extended to Reliance Group firms, including the credit assessments done before sanctioning.The probe agency also questioned Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, a former close aide of Ambani, on Tuesday. ET noted that several Reliance Group executives had already been summoned earlier in August as part of a separate Rs 17,000 crore bank loan fraud inquiry.The ED's new action follows a complaint filed on August 18 by Jyoti Kumar, deputy general manager of SBI’s Mumbai branch. Kumar alleged that the fraud was first flagged when a forensic auditor submitted its report on October 15, 2020. The ED has already filed three separate money laundering cases in connection with alleged bank fraud involving Ambani, his firms, and associates.