Days after businessman Anil Ambani was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering investigation, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday conducted raids at premises linked to Reliance Communications (RCOM) and its Promoter Director.
The operations, which were conducted at several locations in Mumbai, were found to be connected with an on-going alleged scam that reportedly caused losses of over Rs 2,000 crore to State Bank of India (SBI), sources added.
On June 13, SBI grouped RCOM and 66-year-old Ambani in the "fraud" category, in line with the Reserve Bank of India's Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management and the bank's internal Policy on Classification, Reporting & Management of Frauds endorsed by its Board.
The bank in its letter to RCom emphasized anomalies in loan usage, detailing a sophisticated trend of fund moving among various group companies.
"We have considered the replies to our show-cause notice and after proper scrutiny of the same, it is held that adequate reasons have not been furnished by the respondent, to justify the non-compliance with the terms and conditions agreed to in the loan documents or the abnormalities noticed in the operation of the account of RCL to the bank's satisfaction," SBI said.
According to RBI guidelines, after a bank flags an account as "fraud," it is required to inform the central bank within 21 days and also send information to the CBI or local police.
In the first week of this month, Anil Ambani faced intense nine-hour questioning at the ED headquarters in New Delhi over an alleged Rs 17,000-crore loan fraud case.
Reports revealed that the regulator was to call Anil Ambani for questioning again in a few days' time.
The Chairman of the Reliance Group had apparently sought 7-10 days from the investigating agency to submit documents related to the said scam.
Based on sources, Anil Ambani tried to distance himself from the claims, stating that all money matters were decided by his firms' internal boards and that he only signed approvals.
Earlier, the ED had conducted raids at properties linked to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group, seizing numerous documents, hard drives, and other digital records from multiple locations in Mumbai and Delhi. The searches were part of a money laundering investigation connected to the Yes Bank loan fraud case.
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