The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has served a lookout circular (LOC) against industrialist Anil Ambani in relation to an ongoing probe into a suspected loan scam of thousands of crores involving his group firms, sources close to the development informed on Friday.
As part of the investigation, Ambani has also been asked to appear before the ED on August 5 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for questioning, officials said.
An LOC is usually issued to ensure that the persons being investigated do not leave the country or skip legal proceedings.
We have given a LOC against Anil Ambani and summoned him on August 5 to come to Delhi for recording his statement under the PMLA in the loan fraud case," an officer stated. He said the industrialist will be questioned regarding loans of different natures and regulatory observations, specifically those raised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
The financial investigation agency recently raided offices associated with about 50 companies and 25 individuals, including senior officials connected with companies in the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The officials stated that the searches are part of a larger investigation into alleged financial irregularities and loan diversion of more than ₹17,000 crore by a number of group companies, including Reliance Infrastructure (R Infra).
Based on Sebi’s findings, the ED has alleged that R Infra routed funds—disguised as inter-corporate deposits (ICDs)—to other Reliance Group companies through a firm called CLE. Investigators claim R Infra failed to declare CLE as a related party, thereby bypassing necessary approvals from its shareholders and audit committee.
Replying to the accusations, a Reliance Group spokesperson stated that the ₹10,000 crore diversion allegation pertains to an issue that is over a decade old and that the company had already reported a financial exposure of around ₹6,500 crore in its accounts.
"This issue was publicly revealed by Reliance Infrastructure on 9th February 2025, almost six months back," said the spokesperson, adding that a settlement was arrived at through mandatory mediation before a retired judge of the Supreme Court. "Through mandatory mediation proceedings. Reliance Infrastructure reached a settlement to recoup its 100 per cent exposure of ₹6,500 crore," said the firm.
The statement also made it clear that Anil Ambani has not been a member of R Infra's board since March 2022.
The ED is also investigating a different series of allegations involving Yes Bank loans totaling approximately ₹3,000 crore given between 2017 and 2019 to Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL). Authorities said that financial transactions were made into the accounts of the bank's promoters just before the loans were extended.
In a separate case, the agency on Friday raided an Odisha company charged with operating a fake bank guarantee scam. The company allegedly issued counterfeit guarantees worth ₹68 crore in favour of a Reliance Group firm.
Handling this evolution, a spokesperson of the group said that "the company and its group companies acted bona fidely and have fallen victim to fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy," adding further that the issue had already been brought to the notice of the stock exchanges on November 7, 2024.
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