https://www.businessworld.in/article/ed-arrests-two-former-reliance-execs-in-money-laundering-probe-602486

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested two former senior executives linked to companies controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani as part of a money laundering investigation tied to alleged loan fraud at group finance units, officials said on Wednesday.

The agency said Amitabh Jhunjhunwala and Amit Bapna were taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case arising from multiple first information reports filed earlier by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI cases relate to alleged large-scale financial irregularities and diversion of bank funds involving Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL).

The Enforcement Directorate said its probe has found that companies linked to the Anil Ambani group allegedly laundered more than Rs 40,000 crore. The agency has provisionally attached assets worth about Rs 17,000 crore, including Ambani’s Mumbai residence valued at Rs 3,700 crore, which it says represent proceeds of crime.

Ambani has been questioned several times by investigators, according to media reports. He has maintained that he resigned from the boards of the companies in 2017.

Jhunjhunwala, a former group managing director of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group and vice chairman of Reliance Capital, has previously been under the scanner of central agencies. Investigators believe he played a key role in financial decision-making related to RHFL and RCFL. Bapna was a senior executive at Reliance Finance, officials said.

The ED registered the money laundering case in July last year, based on CBI complaints filed by Yes Bank, Union Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra. The CBI has booked the firms under charges including criminal conspiracy, cheating and violations of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The ED has said RHFL and RCFL raised public funds from multiple banks and financial institutions, of which more than Rs 11,000 crore later turned into non-performing assets. According to the agency, the funds were diverted to other Reliance group companies by routing them through a network of shell entities with negligible financial strength and little or no business activity.

In March, the ED said it had uncovered the alleged modus operandi for siphoning off public money and attached assets through a provisional order, adding it was committed to pursuing financial crime cases and restoring proceeds of crime to their rightful claimants.