(Image source from: Newstodaynet.com)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches on Saturday in Mumbai at locations associated with the telecom company Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM) and business tycoon Anil Ambani. This action is part of an investigation into a suspected bank loan fraud case that was initiated based on a complaint from the state-run State Bank of India (SBI), according to CBI officials. The searches took place at the official locations connected to RCOM, as well as at the home of Anil Ambani, who is the chairman of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Group. The agency filed the first information report (FIR) related to this case on Thursday and received search orders from a special CBI court in Mumbai on Friday.
The FIR mentioned a complaint made by SBI's deputy general manager Jyoti Kumar on August 18 regarding suspected crimes of conspiracy, cheating, breach of trust, and improper conduct involving Reliance Communication Ltd and its director Anil Ambani, along with unnamed government workers and others. The bank claimed it was cheated out of Rs. 2929.05 crore. The FIR explained that as part of a criminal conspiracy, the accused secured credit from SBI for RCOM using false information and then misused or redirected the funds obtained from the bank. “The allegations involve misuse or diversion of loan money, possible routing of loan money, transactions between companies, improper use of sales invoice financing, the discounting of RCOM's bills by Reliance Infratel Ltd, movement of money via inter-corporate deposits, cancelling capital advances given to Netizen Engineering Pvt Ltd - a company part of the Reliance ADA Group, and creating or eliminating fake debtors,” a CBI official said, referring to the FIR.
The loan accounts were deemed fraudulent in June following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) guidelines on fraud risk management and SBI’s Board-approved policy on fraud classification and management. Following this, Reliance Communications stated in a regulatory update that it received a communication from SBI on June 23, 2025, regarding the case. The finance ministry informed the Lok Sabha in a written response last month that SBI's credit exposure to Reliance Communications included a principal amount of approximately ₹2,227 crore along with accruing interest and costs from August 26, 2016, and a non-fund-based Bank Guarantee of about Rs.786 crore. The company entered the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
In another situation, the Delhi branch of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches in Delhi and Mumbai at various offices belonging to companies related to the Group last month. This was part of its investigation into money laundering that involves bank loan defaults and other financial issues. There has been no response from RCOM or the Group. Nonetheless, following the ED's searches in July, a person from the Reliance Group, who asked to remain anonymous, mentioned, “Anil Ambani stepped down from RCOM's board in 2019. Currently, Anil Ambani is not on the board of any Reliance Group companies.” This individual stated that RCOM is not a part of the Reliance Group, which now only has two publicly traded companies – Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. and Reliance Power Ltd.
“Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) has been going through the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, for more than six years. The State Bank of India (SBI) did not allow Anil D. Ambani a chance for a personal meeting before its committee made a decision regarding the issue.”
