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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its money laundering probe into Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group, attaching assets worth more than Rs. 7,500 crore across multiple cities. The attached properties include Ambani’s Pali Hill residence in Mumbai, commercial assets in Navi Mumbai’s Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, and land parcels in Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, and East Godavari, among others.
According to officials, four provisional attachment orders were issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Of the total, assets worth Rs. 3,084 crore have been freshly seized, bringing the cumulative value of attached properties in connection with alleged financial irregularities at Reliance Group companies to over Rs. 7,500 crore.
The ED’s move marks a major step in the agency’s probe into alleged diversion and laundering of funds by Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL). Both firms are part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), which is already under scrutiny for a series of bank fraud cases.
A trail of loans and losses
Between 2017 and 2019, Yes Bank had invested Rs. 2,965 crore in RHFL and Rs. 2,045 crore in RCFL through various debt instruments. However, by late 2019, these investments turned into bad loans, with nearly Rs. 3,300 crore remaining unpaid, according to the ED. Investigators allege that the funds raised by the two companies were siphoned off through a network of shell entities and group-linked firms, instead of being used for legitimate lending or business purposes.
The agency’s findings suggest a complex web of transactions designed to “evergreen” loans—where new borrowings are used to repay existing dues, concealing defaults on paper. Funds were allegedly routed through intermediary companies and investment fronts to mask their true origin and end use.
The ED claims that the total suspected diversion across multiple Reliance Group entities may exceed Rs. 17,000 crore.
Anil Ambani under scrutiny
Anil Ambani, who was once among India’s wealthiest industrialists, has been questioned by the ED in connection with the case. In August this year, the agency summoned him for detailed interrogation on the group’s financial dealings and its relationship with Yes Bank.
This came after a major round of raids on July 24, when ED officials searched 35 premises linked to over 50 companies and 25 individuals associated with the group. The searches were part of a coordinated crackdown on suspected money laundering and fund diversion activities.
Reliance Infrastructure denies operational impact
In response to the ED’s latest action, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd said that the attachment of certain assets would not affect its ongoing business operations.
“There is no impact on the business operations, shareholders, employees, or any other stakeholders of Reliance Infrastructure Limited,” the company said in a regulatory filing. It also clarified that Anil Ambani has not been on its board for more than three and a half years.
The Yes Bank connection
The ED’s investigation is closely tied to the wider Yes Bank fraud case, which led to the arrest of the bank’s founder and former CEO, Rana Kapoor, in 2020. Between 2017 and 2019, Yes Bank allegedly extended credit facilities and made investments worth over Rs. 12,000 crore in companies linked to the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group.
Investigators believe that portions of these funds were misused, rerouted, or used to settle other group debts, violating banking regulations and internal due diligence norms. The agency also suspects quid pro quo arrangements between certain Yes Bank officials and the borrower companies.
According to ED findings, in several instances, loan documents were backdated, bribes were allegedly paid to bank executives, and disbursals were made even before official approvals were granted. Some loans were sanctioned to companies with weak financials and no viable repayment capacity.
Pattern of irregularities and fund diversion
The ED has flagged numerous instances of what it calls “intentional control failures” within Yes Bank’s lending process. Credit applications, approvals, and disbursements reportedly occurred within unusually short timeframes—sometimes all on the same day. Field inspections were skipped, securities were missing or inadequate, and due diligence protocols were bypassed.
The agency has traced substantial sums that were transferred to related entities or parked in mutual funds and fixed deposits before being cycled back to group firms.
Earlier probes revealed that between 2010 and 2012, Reliance Communications (RCom) and other group companies borrowed around Rs. 40,000 crore from various banks, of which ?13,600 crore was allegedly used for evergreening of loans and Rs. 12,600 crore transferred to connected parties.
A long legal battle ahead
The Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City in Navi Mumbai, one of the key assets under attachment, has been under the lens of investigators for years. RCom, which owns the property, has been undergoing insolvency proceedings since 2019. Its resolution process remains pending before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the Supreme Court.
The ED’s attachment adds another layer of complexity to the already tangled web of litigation surrounding the Reliance Group’s financial troubles. Meanwhile, the CBI continues to probe alleged corruption and criminal conspiracy linked to the same transactions.
A chargesheet filed earlier this year accused Rana Kapoor and Anil Ambani of conspiring to secure irregular loans, causing losses exceeding Rs. 2,700 crore to Yes Bank.
For Anil Ambani, once the torchbearer of India’s telecom and power ambitions, this development underscores how deeply his business empire has unraveled over the past decade, from a corporate titan to a conglomerate battling legal and financial headwinds on multiple fronts.
As investigations progress, the focus will remain on whether the ED can recover the alleged proceeds of crime and establish a clear trail of responsibility for one of India’s largest corporate loan fraud cases.
