NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a lookout circular (LOC) against industrialist Anil Ambani as it investigates allegations of loan fraud worth thousands of crores against his group companies, people familiar with the development said on Friday.
The businessman has also been summoned under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for questioning on August 5, they said.
A LOC is issued to prevent a person of interest from leaving the country and evading the legal process.
“We have issued a LOC against Anil Ambani and issued summons to him on August 5 asking him to appear in Delhi for recording his statement under the PMLA in the loan fraud probe,” said an officer. He said Anil Ambani was likely to be asked about various loans and findings of market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
The financial crimes probe agency last week carried out searches at the premises of 50 companies and 25 people, including senior executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies.
Officials said that the action pertains to alleged financial irregularities and collective loan diversion pegged at more than ₹17,000 crore by multiple group companies, including Reliance Infrastructure (R Infra).
Based on a Sebi report, ED found that R Infra allegedly diverted funds disguised as inter-corporate deposits (ICDs) to the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group companies through a company named CLE. It is alleged that R Infra did not disclose CLE as its related party to avoid approvals from shareholders and audit panels.
A spokesperson for the Reliance Group, in a statement, said the allegation regarding the alleged diversion of ₹10,000 crore to an undisclosed party was a 10-year-old matter and the company had stated in its financial statements that its exposure was only around ₹6,500 crore.
Reliance Infrastructure (R Infra) had publicly disclosed this matter on February 9, 2025, nearly six months ago, the statement said.
“Through mandatory mediation proceedings conducted by a retired Supreme Court judge and the mediation award filed before the Hon’ble Bombay High Court, Reliance Infrastructure arrived at a settlement to recover its 100 per cent exposure of ₹6,500 crore,” it said.
The company added that Anil Ambani had not been on the Board of Reliance Infrastructure for more than three years, since March 2022.
ED is also looking into allegations of illegal loan diversion of approximately ₹3,000 crore, which Yes Bank provided to the group companies – Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL) – between 2017 and 2019. The agency officials stated last week that, just before the loan was granted, the Yes Bank promoters received money into their accounts.
In a separate case, the ED raided an Odisha-based company on Friday that allegedly operated a fake bank guarantee issuance racket for business groups, including providing alleged assurances worth ₹68 crore for a group company.
On the bank guarantee probe, a spokesperson for the group said that “the company and its subsidiaries acted bona fidely and have been a victim of fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy. The company has made due disclosure on this to the stock exchanges on November 7, 2024.”
