ED attaches ₹510 crore in Anil Ambani group assets, including two chartered planes
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth ₹510 crore linked to the Reliance Anil Ambani Group, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday. The attachments relate to its investigations into Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) and Reliance Communications Limited (RCom).
In the RCom matter, the agency said it had attached two chartered planes, six parcels of land and an office premises in Maharashtra. In the RCFL–RHFL matter, two windmills in Tamil Nadu, along with bank balances, fixed deposits, and investments and receivables, were attached.
The ED said the latest action takes its cumulative attachments and seizures in the various cases against the group to approximately ₹23,100 crore. These cases, it said, are being investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
Outlining its findings, the agency alleged that the group was involved in siphoning off public funds from banks and financial institutions, in the misuse of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to ring-fence corporate assets for personal use, and in the diversion of funds from India to offshore tax havens. It further alleged that a large part of the money was used for the personal benefit of the promoters and their families.
These are allegations made by the investigating agency. They have not been established in court, and the persons and entities named have not been convicted in these proceedings. The ED's statement did not include any response from the Reliance Anil Ambani Group to the specific claims set out in it.
On the enforcement side, the agency said it has so far arrested 10 individuals in connection with these cases and filed six prosecution complaints under the PMLA. A separate complaint has also been submitted under FEMA.
What an attachment means
Under the PMLA, an attachment is a provisional order that freezes specified assets and prevents them from being sold, transferred or otherwise dealt with while the investigation and subsequent proceedings continue. It is not a finding of guilt. The order must be placed before the Adjudicating Authority under the Act, which decides whether the assets should remain attached. The person affected has the right to contest the order, and the matter can ultimately be tested in appeal.
The IBC reference in the agency's statement concerns the insolvency process for distressed companies. The ED has alleged that the code's provisions were used to shield assets rather than to resolve debt, a claim that would be examined in the proceedings before it.
FEMA, meanwhile, deals with foreign exchange transactions rather than with criminal offences. Action under it is civil in nature and is adjudicated separately from the PMLA cases.
The Reliance Anil Ambani Group has faced a series of enforcement actions over the past several years, with lenders to its erstwhile financial services and telecom businesses having taken substantial losses. The total value of assets attached so far, as stated by the agency, is significant in relation to the amounts the group's lenders have sought to recover.
The ED's statement did not specify a timeline for the next stage of the proceedings, and it was not immediately clear whether the group intends to challenge the latest attachment orders.
