ED makes 3rd arrest in Reliance Power bogus bank guarantee case

New Delhi, Nov 7 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Amar Nath Dutta in a bogus Bank Guarantee case involving Reliance Power Limited, a company owned by industrialist Anil Ambani.

This is the third arrest by ED in this case, and the probe agency has been granted four-day custody of Dutta by the court.

According to the financial watchdog, the case pertains to making and deploying forged Bank Guarantees, forged Bank Guarantee endorsements/ Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS) confirmations, which were to be submitted to Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) to manipulate the tender process and defraud the public at large.

SECI suffered a loss of over Rs 100 crore due to fraudulent Bank Guarantees.

Earlier, the then CFO of Reliance Power, Ashok Pal and Partha Sarathi Biswal, MD of Biswal Tradelink Pvt. Ltd, were arrested by the ED.

It is claimed that Pal attended discussions in Kolkata with Partha Sarathi Biswal, Amar Nath Dutta, Shiv Sankar Das and others, pushing for fresh forged endorsements.

Pal, a close aide of Anil Ambani, was arrested on October 11 under charges of money laundering in connection with a fake bank guarantee case linked to the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Group.

According to the ED, Pal played a central role in diverting company funds and submitting fake bank guarantees worth over Rs 68 crore to SECI, allegedly to defraud a public sector enterprise. He is currently in judicial custody.

Following his arrest, Pal resigned from his position as CFO of Reliance Power. The ED’s investigation stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR related to alleged financial irregularities involving Yes Bank and several ADA Group entities.

Later, a Delhi court dismissed a petition challenging Pal's arrest. The Patiala House Court rejected the plea, which questioned the legality of Pal’s arrest by the ED.

Meanwhile, ED has summoned Reliance ADAG Group Chairman, Anil Ambani, again on November 14 for questioning in the money laundering case against the conglomerate, according to sources.

The development comes close on the heels of ED provisionally attaching over 132 acres of land worth Rs 4,462.81 crore in Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City at Navi Mumbai earlier this week, under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, sources added.

The ED had earlier attached 42 properties worth over Rs 3,083 crore in the bank fraud cases of Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd., and Reliance Home Finance Ltd.

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