The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made its first arrest in connection with the ₹3,000-crore loan fraud case involving Anil Ambani's Reliance Group companies. Partha Sarathi Biswal, Managing Director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd (BTPL), was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The arrest follows extensive searches conducted by the ED at BTPL's premises in Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. Biswal is accused of arranging a fake ₹68.2 crore bank guarantee for a Reliance ADAG firm. These guarantees were arranged on behalf of Reliance Power.

According to the ED, BTPL fraudulently received ₹5.4 crore from Reliance Power Ltd, a company owned by Anil Ambani, for facilitating the fake bank guarantee. This financial trail is considered a key element linking BTPL's fraudulent operations to Ambani's corporate network. The agency also found that Biswal Tradelink had been operating at least seven undisclosed bank accounts. Furthermore, the company did not maintain mandatory records and used dummy directors to sign off on documents.

The ED's investigation revealed fraudulent documents and transactions, tracing crores of rupees to undisclosed accounts. The alleged fraud involves money laundering, forged SBI endorsements, and fabricated emails linked to a tender floated by SECI. The ED has been investigating the alleged diversion of around ₹3,000 crore in loans given to Reliance Group companies by YES Bank between 2017 and 2019. The agency had found that the promoters of the bank had also received payments just before the loans were sanctioned, indicating a quid pro quo arrangement.

Biswal was produced before a special court, which granted ED his custody till Wednesday. The news of the arrest comes a day after a lookout circular was issued against Anil Ambani in connection with the bank fraud case.