New Delhi, March 12 – The Enforcement Directorate said on Thursday that it has attached another group of properties, worth more than ₹581 crore, belonging to Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL), both part of the Anil Ambani group.
An order was issued on March 11 to attach land parcels in Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.
The properties worth ₹581.65 crore belong to RHFL and RCFL, the agency said.
"The attachment follows search operations conducted on March 6 in the case against Reliance Power Limited under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)," the statement said.
The investigation is based on a CBI FIR filed against RCFL and RHFL following complaints lodged by Yes Bank, Union Bank of India, and Bank of Maharashtra.
It found that the two companies raised public funds from multiple banks and financial institutions, and more than ₹11,000 crore of these funds turned into non-performing assets, the ED said.
The ED had earlier attached properties worth over ₹15,729 crore in the bank fraud cases of RCFL, RHFL, and RCOM. The cumulative Reliance Anil Ambani Group attachment has reached ₹16,310 crore, the statement said.
Furthermore, during the course of search operations under PMLA and FEMA, assets amounting to ₹2.48 crore in the form of fixed deposits/mutual funds/cash were seized. The ED has also seized balances in 13 bank accounts of Reliance Infrastructure Limited (R-INFRA) to the tune of ₹77.86 crore under Section 37A of FEMA, the statement said.
The ED investigation revealed that public funds raised by RHFL and RCFL were diverted to various Reliance Group companies, such as Reliance Infrastructure Limited, Reliance Power Limited, Reliance Communications Limited, Reliance Capital Limited, etc. Public funds were diverted by routing them through a large number of shell entities controlled and managed by the Reliance Anil Ambani Group. These dummy entities had negligible financial strength and no business operations. The investigation has revealed mala fide intent on the part of the group promoters and key persons.
The ED has unearthed the modus operandi for siphoning off public funds by various entities and group constituents. The assets have been attached as representing the value of the Proceeds of Crime, the statement said.
Further investigation is in progress, the statement added.