CBI files fresh case against Anil Ambani, Reliance Communications over ₹2,220 crore bank 'fraud'

The CBI has registered a fresh case against industrialist Anil Ambani and Reliance Communications (RCOM) for allegedly cheating the Bank of Baroda during 2013-17 causing a wrongful loss of more than ₹2,220 crore to the bank, officials said Thursday.

The case stems from a complaint received from the bank on Tuesday, they said.

CBI conducts searches at Anil Ambani's residence

"After registration of this case, the CBI has conducted searches at the residence of Anil Ambani and the registered offices of Reliance Communication Ltd. Various documents connected with this loan transactions have been recovered," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

"The allegations in the FIR are that Bank of Baroda has suffered a loss of more than ₹2,220 crore due to the loans availed by Reliance Communications which were allegedly diverted and misutilised by creating fictitious transactions with related parties," the spokesperson said.

According to the officials, the account was declared a non-performing asset in 2017 itself.

"However, based on the petition filed by Anil Ambani before the Hon’ble High Court of Bombay, there was stay on the declaration of the accounts as a fraud by the Hon’ble High Court. The stay was vacated on 23.02.2026 after which the Bank of Baroda lodged this complaint and the CBI has taken up the case immediately," the spokesperson said.

No immediate reaction was available from the company.

Bank of Baroda has accused Ambani and RCOM of misutilisation of borrowed funds

In its complaint, the Bank of Baroda has accused Ambani and RCOM of systematic misutilisation of borrowed funds contrary to sanctioned purposes.

Ambani and RCOM were also accused of manipulation of books of account to conceal irregularities and misrepresent financial health, diversion of loan proceeds, and recycling and layering of funds to camouflage true fund flows, among others.

"RCOM, Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL), and Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL), all related parties, cumulatively received ₹31,580 crore from banks and financial institutions.

"Of these, ₹6,265.85 crore was utilised for repayment of other banks' loans and ₹5,501.56 crore for payment to related/connected parties, while ₹3,674.85 crore was invested in fixed deposits and mutual funds. These investments were liquidated immediately and utilised for payments to related and non-related parties which indicated that utilisation of loan amount was not as per terms of sanction," the complaint alleged.

The bank has alleged loan funds of ₹1,783.65 crore raised by RITL was utilised by RCOM through Reliance Communications Infrastructure Ltd (RCIL) to pay its liability or transferred to related parties.

"The account was classified as NPA w.e.f. June 5, 2017 due to persistent defaults in repayment obligations and irregularities in fund utilization. Subsequent forensic investigation confirmed diversion and misappropriation of funds, establishing fraudulent intent," it alleged.

The complaint, now part of the FIR, also alleged there were transactions between RCOM, Reliance Infratel, and Reliance Telecom which amounts to clear diversion of funds obtained as loan from multiple banks.

"There are suspicious transactions to related and non-related parties. There are numerous assignments in the books of Reliance Communications Limited, Reliance Infratel Limited and Reliance Telecom Ltd wherein high-value receivable and payable balances were transferred to corresponding parties to the assignment," it alleged.

"...it is submitted that the borrower company (Reliance Communications) along with its Promoter and Chairman (Anil Ambani) in pursuance of a well knitted criminal conspiracy and with dishonest intention of causing wrongful loss to our bank and wrongful gain to themselves diverted/siphoned off the funds disbursed to them, dishonestly misappropriated the loan amount," it alleged.

The CBI has already registered a case against RCOM based on a complaint lodged by the SBI which is the lead bank of a consortium consisting of 11 banks.

"However, the Bank of Baroda was not part of the said consortium, and this is a different loan availed by the Reliance Communications from Bank of Baroda, the then Vijaya Bank and the then Dena Bank," the spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, Reliance Group Chairman Ambani appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here for a second round of questioning in connection with an alleged bank fraud-linked money laundering case.

Officials in the agency said they have recorded his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Ambani was first questioned by the ED in August 2025.

The probe pertains to an alleged over ₹40,000 crore worth bank fraud by his group company, Reliance Communications.