ED arrests Reliance Power CFO Ashok Pal in a Rs 68.2 crore fake bank guarantee case.
Investigation links Reliance NU BESS Limited and Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink to the alleged fraud.
Pal allegedly bypassed formal workflows and used fake emails to facilitate the money laundering scheme.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Ashok Pal, Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power, in a money laundering case linked to an alleged fake bank guarantee of Rs 68.2 crore, official sources said on Saturday. Pal was taken into custody on Friday night under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and sent to two days of ED custody after being produced before a magistrate, PTI reported. He is scheduled to be produced before a special PMLA court on October 13 following the remand period.
The case relates to a bank guarantee submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power, which was found to be “fake,” according to PTI. The subsidiary was previously known as Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited.
Investigations by the ED identified the Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink as the company allegedly operating a racket to issue fake bank guarantees to business groups. Searches were carried out against the company and its promoters in August, and its Managing Director, Partha Sarathi Biswal, had already been arrested, PTI reported.
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ED sources said Pal played a “crucial” role in the diversion of funds, as he and others were empowered by the company board to approve, finalise, and sign documents for SECI’s BESS tender, leveraging Reliance Power’s financial capability for the bid. The bank guarantee submitted was purportedly from FirstRand Bank in Manila, Philippines, but the bank does not have a branch in that country, the sources added.
The money laundering case stems from a November 2024 FIR by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which alleged that the company earned an 8 per cent commission for issuing fake bank guarantees. Reliance Group had earlier stated that Reliance Power was a “victim of fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy” and had made due disclosures to the stock exchange on November 7, 2024. According to PTI, a criminal complaint was lodged against the accused company with Delhi Police’s EOW in October 2024.
ED sources said the accused company used a fake email domain – s-bi.co.in – similar to SBI’s official domain, to create the appearance of authenticity in communications with SECI. Pal allegedly approved releases and facilitated paperwork through internet platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp, bypassing normal SAP/vendor master workflows. Biswal Tradelink was reportedly a “mere paper entity,” with its registered office at a residential property belonging to a relative of Biswal, PTI reported.
(With inputs from PTI)
