Enforcement Directorate Intensifies Action Against Anil Ambani, Attaches Assets Worth ₹3,084 Crore

In a significant escalation of its investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth ₹3,084 crore linked to Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, including his residence in Mumbai's Pali Hill area. The move comes as part of an ongoing money laundering probe against his group companies.

The ED issued four provisional orders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach the properties. Besides Ambani's house, the attached assets include a plot of land belonging to Reliance Centre on Maharaja Ranjit Singh Marg in Delhi and various other residential and commercial properties spread across Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Hyderabad, Chennai and East Godavari.

The case pertains to alleged diversion and laundering of public funds raised by Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL). The ED alleges financial irregularities and loan diversions amounting to over ₹17,000 crore across multiple Reliance Group companies, including Reliance Infrastructure.

According to the ED, Yes Bank invested ₹2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and ₹2,045 crore in RCFL instruments between 2017 and 2019. By December 2019, these investments had become non-performing, with ₹1,353.50 crore outstanding for RHFL and ₹1,984 crore for RCFL.

The ED investigation revealed that direct investment by Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund into Anil Ambani Group's financial companies was prohibited under the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) conflict-of-interest norms. To bypass these restrictions, public money invested in mutual funds was allegedly routed indirectly through Yes Bank's exposures, which eventually reached RHFL and RCFL. These finance firms, in turn, extended loans to entities connected to the Reliance Group, headed by Anil Ambani. The fund-tracing exercise revealed a pattern of on-lending, diversion, and siphoning of funds to group-linked companies.

The ED's action follows searches conducted in July at 35 locations linked to Ambani's firms and associates in Mumbai. Ambani was also questioned by the ED in August. The money laundering case originates from a CBI FIR into the same alleged irregularities. Sources within the ED have indicated that further attachments are likely in the coming weeks. The agency alleges that Ambani group entities indulged in diversion of bank funds, which were further lent to shell companies and wholly owned subsidiaries of the group with an intention to siphon off the proceeds.