Anil Ambani‘s Reliance Communications Ltd has committed a loan fraud of over Rs 14,000 crores, Enforcement Directorate (ED) sources told The Economic Times on Thursday.
It is noteworthy that Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary confirmed in Parliament that the State Bank of India (SBI) had classified Reliance Communications (RCom) and its promoter, Anil Ambani, as “fraudulent” in accordance with RBI guidelines. SBI reported this classification to the RBI and is preparing to file a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Reliance Communications has also cheated Canara Bank of more than Rs. 1,050 crore, the sources said. They confirmed that Undisclosed Foreign Bank Accounts and Foreign Assets are also being investigated.
In addition to this, it has also been found that Reliance Mutual Fund invested Rs 2850 Cr in AT-1 bonds of YES Bank (perpetual FDs) for suspected quid pro quo. These bonds were eventually written down, and money siphoned off. This was the money of the public, the mutual fund investors. CBI is also investigating this issue.
Curious case of C Company: Scam of Rs 10,000 crore
Furthermore, based on information received from SEBI, ED has found that Reliance Infra has diverted large sum of money disguised as ICDs to Group Companies of RAAGA through C Company, an undisclosed related party company. Reliance Infra did not disclose C Company as its Related Party in order to avoid proper approval from shareholder and audit committee. It was also hidden presumably to circumvent checks and balances imposed on related party transaction as per laws. It has been found that R Infra has taken haircut of Rs 5,480 Cr and only Rs 4 Cr has been received in cash. Remaining Rs 6,499 Crores has been settled in the form of assignment/transfer of assets/economic right mainly in certain Discoms. These Discoms don’t have any business for previous many years and are not operational. Therefore, there are zero chances of recovery of this amount.
The loan diversion in this case is over Rs. 10,000 Crores.
RCom and Anil Ambani classified as ‘fraud’
RCom and its promoter, Anil Ambani were classified as fraud on June 13, 2025 in accordance with the RBI’s Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management and Bank’s Board-approved Policy on Classification, Reporting & Management of Frauds.Further, on July 1, 2025, as part of disclosure compliance, Resolution Professional of RCom informed the Bombay Stock Exchange regarding fraud classification by the bank.
The credit exposure of SBI in RCom includes, fund-based principal outstanding amount of Rs 2,227.64 crore along with the accrued interest and expenses with effect from August 26, 2016 and non-fund based Bank Guarantee of Rs 786.52 crore, he said.
RCom is undergoing Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The resolution plan was approved by the Committee of Creditors and filed with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai on March 6, 2020, and NCLT approval is awaited.
The bank has also initiated Personal Insolvency Resolution Process under IBC against Anil D Ambani and the same is being heard by NCLT, Mumbai, he said.
The bank had earlier classified the account and promoter Anil D Ambani as ‘fraud’ on November 10, 2020 and filed a complaint with the CBI on January 5, 2021.
However, he said, the complaint was returned in view of the ‘status quo’ order dated January 6, 2021 by the High Court, Delhi.
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court judgement dated March 27, 2023 in State Bank of India & Others Vs Rajesh Agarwal & Others case mandated that lenders provide borrowers with an opportunity to represent before classifying their accounts as fraud.
Accordingly, he said, the fraud classification in the account was reversed by the bank on September 2, 2023.
The fraud classification process was re-run, and the account was again classified as ‘fraud’ after following the due process as per RBI circular dated July 15, 2024.
