ED arrests former Reliance Telecom executives Gautam Doshi, Satish Seth in PMLA probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested Gautam Doshi and Satish Seth, former senior executives of Reliance Telecom and long-time associates of industrialist Anil Ambani, in connection with its ongoing money laundering investigation involving Reliance Group entities.

The two were arrested in Mumbai. Doshi was brought to Delhi and is set to be produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court. Seth, however, was admitted to Mumbai's JJ Hospital following his arrest.

According to the ED, doctors treating Seth did not permit his physical production before the court, prompting the agency to seek permission for his appearance through video conferencing. Subsequently, a Mumbai court granted the ED two days' custody of Seth and issued a transit remand directing that he be produced before a Delhi court on June 14.

The money laundering case against Anil Ambani, his group companies and their associates is being investigated by a special team constituted at the ED headquarters in New Delhi.

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Doshi and Seth, along with Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, who is currently in judicial custody, formed the core leadership team of the Reliance Group under Ambani. Doshi had earlier been arrested by the CBI in the 2G spectrum allocation case in 2011 and spent seven months in jail before securing bail.

In March this year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a fresh corruption case against Doshi and Seth over an alleged bank fraud exceeding ₹100 crore. The agency also conducted searches at their Mumbai premises and questioned the trio based on a complaint filed by the State Bank of India (SBI), which led a consortium of 11 banks that had extended loans to Reliance Telecom.

Satish Seth previously served as managing director of Reliance Communications, vice-chairman of Reliance Infrastructure and a board member of Reliance Telecom Ltd. Doshi was group managing director and also served on the board of Reliance Telecom. Jhunjhunwala, who was the first among the three to be arrested by the ED, held positions as group managing director and vice-chairman of Reliance Capital.

Earlier, a spokesperson for Anil Ambani said that all three executives had ceased to be associated with the Reliance Group. According to the spokesperson, Jhunjhunwala had been working as an independent fund manager with operations in Dubai and Singapore before his arrest, while Seth was involved in real estate and software businesses.

Doshi, meanwhile, was associated with a tax and mergers and acquisitions advisory firm and also served on the boards of several major companies, including Sterlite Industries, Sun Pharma, Suzlon Energy and Piramal Enterprises, the spokesperson had said.

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