Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in New Delhi on Tuesday as part of a high-profile investigation into a ₹17,000-crore bank loan fraud and alleged money laundering. The probe focuses on whether loans taken by Ambani’s group companies over the last decade—including Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Communications—were properly used or illicitly diverted.
Reports indicate that Ambani was not permitted to have a lawyer present during his recorded interrogation, in line with ED’s standard procedure for such cases. Investigators pressed him on key issues such as whether funds were actually routed to shell companies, if any bribes were paid to officials, and whether any money found its way to political parties.
A significant part of the case centers on the alleged diversion of approximately ₹3,000 crore in loans from Yes Bank between 2017 and 2019, as well as a much larger fraud of over ₹14,000 crore related to Reliance Communications. Last week, the ED raided several premises linked to Ambani’s firms in Mumbai and Delhi, seizing large caches of documents, hard drives, and digital data for examination.
The ED’s questions also targeted complex financial arrangements: the use of shell companies, loan approvals and disbursals, potential fraudulent guarantees, and the possibility that group companies presented false information or deliberately defaulted. Authorities have flagged the use of common directors, inadequate documentation, and ‘loan evergreening’—a practice where old debt is refinanced with new loans to hide default risk.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched its own parallel inquiry into alleged fraud and irregularities involving other companies linked to Anil Ambani. The investigation into the financial dealings of the Reliance Group is ongoing and may have significant implications for the wider banking and corporate sectors.