Reliance Power CFO Arrested: ED Detains Anil Ambani's Aide in Rs 68 Crore Bank Guarantee Fraud Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, a senior executive at Reliance Power Limited and aide to Anil Ambani, on Saturday in connection with a money laundering investigation related to a fraudulent bank guarantee case. Pal was detained under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Officials revealed that Pal, who has served as Chief Financial Officer at Reliance Power for over seven years, allegedly submitted a counterfeit bank guarantee exceeding Rs 68 crore to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a public sector entity under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. To make these fake guarantees appear legitimate, Pal reportedly employed deceptive domain names mimicking established banks, using tactics such as single-character substitutions or minor textual alterations.

These fraudulent domains included 'sbi.17313@s-bi.co.in', 'Indiabank.in', 'Indusindbank.in', 'pnbIndia.in', 'psdbank.co.in', 'siliguripnb.co.in', 'lobbank.co.in', and 'unionbankofIndia.co.in'. According to the investigating agency, Pal handled approvals and documentation through messaging platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp.

The investigation also uncovered that Reliance Power had presented a bank guarantee allegedly from FirstRand Bank in Manila, Philippines—a branch that investigators confirmed does not exist.

A critical entity in this alleged fraud scheme is Biswal Tradelink, an Odisha-based company operating from a residential address with no established history of providing bank guarantees and lacking proper vendor verification. Investigators determined the company existed only on paper, with no statutory records found at its registered location. The director of Biswas Sarathi was apprehended in August for submitting fraudulent guarantees amounting to Rs 68.2 crore, reportedly arranged on behalf of Reliance Power.

Beyond this case, Anil Ambani faces scrutiny in a separate money laundering investigation involving alleged financial improprieties and loan diversions estimated at over Rs 17,000 crore across multiple companies within his group, including Reliance Infrastructure. The first component of this investigation concerns the alleged improper diversion of approximately Rs 3,000 crore in loans from Yes Bank to Ambani's group companies between 2017 and 2019.

The second component involves similar but more extensive allegations totaling over Rs 14,000 crore, reportedly involving Reliance Communications.

The investigation has highlighted concerning practices including loans issued to companies with questionable financial credentials, use of common directors and addresses across different entities, inadequate documentation, fund transfers to shell companies, and potential loan evergreening. Sources indicate that initial findings reveal instances where loans were approved and disbursed on the same day applications were submitted, with some funds transferred even before formal approval was granted.

In response to these allegations, the ED conducted raids in July as part of their investigation into the bank loan fraud-linked money laundering case, along with other inquiries into alleged financial irregularities involving substantial sums.

Recently, the investigating agency has summoned Anil Ambani for questioning and requested information from 12 to 13 banks regarding their due diligence procedures when extending loans to Reliance Housing Finance, Reliance Communications, and Reliance Commercial Finance.