New Delhi, February 26 – The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at the residences of industrialist Anil Ambani and the offices of Reliance Communications (RCom) after registering a second case against the company based on a complaint filed by the Bank of Baroda on February 24, alleging offences of conspiracy, cheating under the Indian Penal Code, and criminal misconduct and abuse of official position under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The case has been filed against Anil Ambani, the promoter and former Chairman of Reliance Communications, Reliance Communications, and others, according to a statement issued by the premier investigative agency.
The allegations in the FIR state that Bank of Baroda has suffered a loss of more than Rs 2,220 crore due to loans availed by Reliance Communication, which were allegedly diverted and misused by creating fictitious transactions with related parties. The accounts of Reliance Communications Ltd. were manipulated and irregularities were concealed.
Following the registration of this case, the CBI conducted searches at the residence of Anil Ambani and the registered offices of Reliance Communications Ltd. Various documents related to these loan transactions were recovered, the statement said.
The account was declared a Non-Performing Asset in 2017. However, based on a petition filed by Anil Ambani, the Bombay High Court had imposed a stay on the declaration of the account as fraudulent. The stay was lifted on February 23, after which the Bank of Baroda lodged this complaint, and the CBI immediately took up the case, the statement said.
The CBI has already registered another case against Reliance Communications based on a complaint lodged by the SBI, which is the lead bank of a consortium consisting of 11 banks. However, Bank of Baroda was not part of the SBI consortium, and this is a different loan availed by Reliance Communications Ltd from Bank of Baroda, then Vijaya Bank, and then Dena Bank. Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank have now been merged with Bank of Baroda, the statement said.
The investigation in the case is still ongoing, the statement added.