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New Delhi: The troubles of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, which is already facing investigation by ED and CBI in many cases, are not going to subside. Now the Union Corporate Ministry has also announced the launch of an investigation into the fund diversion against the group. According to an India Today report, the ministry announced an inquiry on Wednesday.
The report stated that the investigation agencies have tightened the screws on Anil Ambani's Reliance Group. After investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), CBI (CBI) and SEBI (SEBI), the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has also started an investigation into the alleged fund diversion in several group companies. The Ministry has handed over the matter to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).
The report claims that the initial investigation of the MCA has found evidence of massive fund diversion and violations of the Companies Act. The names of Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Communication, Reliance Commercial Finance and CLE Pvt Ltd are included in the investigation. Now SFIO will examine between which companies the flow of funds occurred and to what level of responsibility is decided.
Meanwhile, ED has also intensified action against Reliance Group companies. The agency has recently attached assets worth about Rs 7,500 crore, which includes 30 properties of Reliance Infrastructure. Besides this, assets related to Aadhaar Property Consultancy, Mohanbir Hi-Tech Build, Gamesa Investment Management, Vihaan 43 Realty and Campion Properties have also been attached. ED says that this action has been taken in connection with the bank fraud case worth crores of rupees related to Reliance Infra.
According to the ED report, Reliance Communication and group companies raised loans worth thousands of crores of rupees from Indian banks between 2010 and 2012. Of these, 19,694 crore are still in arrears. Five banks have declared RCOM's accounts as fraud for the total dues of 40,185 crore. The company is accused of misusing the loan amount and diverting the amount between each other to repay the old debt. Such an evergreening process has violated banking regulations.
ED estimates that an amount of more than Rs 13,600 crore has been diverted through layered transactions and a part of it was transferred abroad as well. The names of Reliance Home Finance, Reliance Commercial Finance, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power are involved in the investigation of this case.
Many companies of Reliance Group have been under heavy debt pressure for the last few years. RCOM is already in the insolvency process, while other group companies are also facing recovery cases in lenders and courts. In August, CBI and ED conducted raids on Anil Ambani's house and group offices, after which a senior finance officer was arrested.
The MCA's handing over the investigation to the SFIO shows that the government now wants an in-depth forensic investigation into the matter. At the same time, the confiscation of ED assets and the declaration of accounts by banks as fraud has increased the legal and financial difficulties of Reliance Group.
