ED widens crackdown on Anil Ambani: Rs 4,462 crore DAKC land attached, seizures now over Rs 7,500 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has attached over 132 acres of land belonging to Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai worth Rs 4,462.81 crore, in connection with the bank fraud case involving Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom).

"ED attaches over 132 acres of land of Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra worth over Rs 4,462 crore in Reliance Communications Ltd’s Bank Fraud case. Cumulative attachment of properties in the group now stands over Rs 7,500 crore," the probe agency said in a statement.
 
The attachments were made under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, and follow earlier seizures of 42 properties worth Rs 3,083 crore in the related cases of Reliance Communications Ltd., Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd., and Reliance Home Finance Ltd.

ED's investigation began after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR under sections 120-B, 406, and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and section 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1989, naming RCom, Anil Ambani, and others.

According to the agency, RCom and its group firms availed loans worth Rs 40,185 crore from domestic and foreign lenders between 2010 and 2012, of which five banks have declared the loan accounts fraudulent.

ED said its probe revealed large-scale diversion of funds. "Loans taken by one entity from one bank were utilized for repayment of loans taken by other entities from other banks, transfer to related parties, and investments in mutual funds, which was in contravention to the terms and conditions of the sanction letter of the loans," the statement said.

The agency said RCom and its associated companies diverted over Rs 13,600 crore for evergreening of loans, Rs 12,600 crore to connected parties, and Rs 1,800 crore into fixed deposits and mutual funds, which were later liquidated and routed back to group entities.

ED also detected the misuse of bill discounting to funnel funds to related parties, and said certain loans were siphoned off abroad through outward remittances.

With Monday's action, the total attachment in the Reliance Group’s bank fraud cases now stands at Rs 7,545 crore.

The agency said it remains focused on tracing and recovering assets linked to financial crime. "ED is actively pursuing perpetrators of financial crime and is committed to restituting proceeds of crime to their rightful claimants," it said.