The Enforcement Directorate has made its first arrest in the Rs 3,000-crore loan fraud case involving companies of Anil Ambani's Reliance Group. According to th e reports, Partha Sarathi Biswal, managing director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt. Ltd., was taken into custody on Friday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
According to the reports, Biswal arranged fake bank guarantees worth Rs 68.2 crore on behalf of Reliance Power. These guarantees were allegedly backed by forged documents and fabricated emails using a spoofed domain similar to that of the State Bank of India. The FIR in the case was earlier filed by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police. It alleged that Biswal Tradelink and its directors submitted forged bank guarantees to the Solar Energy Corporation of India. The company, founded in 2019, is also accused of operating at least seven undisclosed bank accounts and using dummy directors to sign official records.
The ED’s investigation reportedly revealed that Biswal Tradelink received Rs 5.4 crore from Reliance Power for arranging the fake guarantees. The company allegedly failed to maintain required statutory records and misused financial channels for illegal activities. Biswal was produced before a special court and has been remanded to ED custody until Wednesday for further questioning.
The arrest comes a day after a lookout circular was issued against Anil Ambani in the same case. The ED is probing alleged diversion of around Rs 3,000 crore in loans disbursed by YES Bank to Reliance Group firms between 2017 and 2019. The agency has found evidence of payments made to YES Bank promoters just before the loans were disbursed, suggesting a possible quid pro quo arrangement.
The agency launched a major crackdown on July 24, conducting raids at over 50 premises linked to the case. The searches continued for at least three days.
In a statement to stock exchanges, Reliance Power said the reports appear to relate to transactions involving Reliance Communications Limited or Reliance Home Finance Limited. The company added that these transactions date back over 10 years.
(With inputs from agencies)