New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets valued at more than Rs 3,084 crore linked to Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani as part of an ongoing money laundering probe into his group companies, official sources said on Monday.
The ED issued four provisional orders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), including the attachment of Ambani’s Pali Hill residence in Mumbai, along with other residential and commercial properties of his group firms. Assets attached also include a plot of land at Reliance Centre on Maharaja Ranjit Singh Marg in Delhi and several properties across Noida, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Hyderabad, Chennai, and East Godavari.
The case relates to alleged diversion and laundering of public funds raised by Reliance Home Finance Ltd. (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd. (RCFL). Between 2017 and 2019, Yes Bank invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL instruments, which later became non-performing, with Rs 1,353.50 crore and Rs 1,984 crore outstanding in RHFL and RCFL, respectively, by December 2019.
The ED’s action also concerns alleged collective loan diversion exceeding Rs 17,000 crore across multiple Reliance Group companies, including Reliance Infrastructure. Ambani was questioned in August, following searches at 35 premises of 50 companies and 25 individuals in Mumbai in July. The money laundering probe originates from a CBI FIR.