Trouble mounts for Anil Ambani as Corporate Affairs Ministry launches probe
Sources said the case has now been handed over to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) after the MCA’s preliminary inquiry pointed to large-scale siphoning of funds and serious violations under the Companies Act.
PTC News Desk: The regulatory scrutiny around Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group has intensified further. Following ongoing investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has launched a new probe into alleged fund diversion across several group firms — including Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Communications, Reliance Commercial Finance, and CLE Pvt Ltd.
Sources said the case has now been handed over to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) after the MCA’s preliminary inquiry pointed to large-scale siphoning of funds and serious violations under the Companies Act. The SFIO will reportedly trace fund flows between group entities and fix accountability at the senior management level, with further action to follow based on its findings.
The move coincides with heightened enforcement by the ED against the debt-laden conglomerate. Earlier this week, the agency attached assets worth around ₹7,500 crore belonging to Reliance Group companies. Officials said these include 30 assets of Reliance Infrastructure and properties linked to Adhar Property Consultancy, Mohanbir Hi-tech Build, Gamesa Investment Management, Vihaan43 Realty, and Campion Properties — all tied to a multi-crore bank fraud case involving Reliance Infrastructure.
According to the ED, loans raised by Reliance Communications (RCOM) and its group entities between 2010 and 2012 remain unpaid, with dues amounting to ₹40,185 crore and five banks declaring the accounts fraudulent. Investigators allege that the funds were misused — routed through related entities, used to repay old debts, and diverted in violation of loan covenants.
The ED claims the group engaged in “evergreening” of debt — using new loans to service old ones — rather than investing in business operations. It estimates that about ₹13,600 crore was diverted through complex financial layering, with some of the money transferred abroad. The probe names Reliance Home Finance, Reliance Commercial Finance, Reliance Infrastructure, and Reliance Power among the entities involved.
In August, both the ED and CBI conducted searches at the homes and offices of Anil Ambani and other senior executives, following which a senior finance officer associated with the group was arrested.