ED attaches more than 42 properties of Reliance Anil Ambani Group worth over ₹3,083 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Monday that it had provisionally attached over 42 properties of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group, valued at more than ₹3,083 crore, on October 31 under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. The attachments have been made in the case of Reliance Communications’ SBI bank fraud, and in the cases of Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) and Reliance Home Finance Limited’s (RHFL) Yes Bank fraud.

According to the ED, 30 properties of Reliance Infrastructure Limited, five properties of Adhar Property Consultancy Private Limited, four properties of Mohanbir Hi-tech Build Private Limited, one property each of Gamesa Investment Management Private Limited, Vihaan43 Realty Private Limited (earlier known as M/s Kunjbihari Developers Private Limited) and a property of Campion Properties Limited were attached.

Assets include the Pali Hill residence, Reliance Centre at Maharaja Ranjeet Singh Marg in New Delhi, and other properties in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kancheepuram and East Godavari.

Reliance Infrastructure acknowledged that its assets has been attached by the ED. "There is no impact on the business operations, shareholders, employees or any other stakeholders of Reliance Infrastructure Limited. Mr. Anil D. Ambani is not on the Board of Reliance Infrastructure Limited for more than 3.5 years," the company said in an exchange filing.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has been alleged to have raised public funds—over ₹17,000 crore—through RCFL and RHFL, which were funnelled and diverted through a complex web of transactions involving entities linked to the Anil Ambani Group, which is a contravention of Sebi’s conflict-of-interest rules.

According to a PTI report, between 2017 and 2019, Yes Bank allocated ₹2,965 crore to RHFL and ₹2,045 crore to RCFL. Citing ED, the report added that by December 2019, the said funds of Yes Bank had become “non-performing” investments, with outstanding amounts of ₹1,353.50 crore for RHFL and ₹1,984 crore for RCFL.

In August, Anil Ambani was questioned by the ED after the law enforcement agency conducted raids on 35 premises linked to 50 companies and 25 individuals, including executives of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group in Mumbai on July 24. Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure —other companies within the group—had informed the exchanges that they acknowledged the raids but said they had “absolutely no impact” on their business operations. The probe was conducted on July 24 after the CBI lodged an FIR.

The CBI filed a chargesheet against Anil Ambani and others in September, citing the transactions between RCFL, RHFL, and Yes Bank.