ED Attaches ₹1,120 Cr More in Anil Ambani Firms in Yes Bank Probe

The Reliance Centre, a guesthouse and some residential assets in Mumbai, apart from 231 plots of land in Chennai, are among the fresh assets worth Rs 1,120 crore attached by the ED as part of its ongoing money laundering probe against the companies of Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani.

The federal agency stated in a statement on Friday that the investigation is connected to an alleged fraud at the Yes Bank and that the properties are owned by Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL).

The business group's properties valued at over Rs 8,997 crore were previously frozen by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). According to the latest update, the Reliance Group's total debt value is now Rs 10,117 crore.

The Reliance Centre in Ballard Estate, a commercial office block of Reliance Infrastructure Limited in Andheri East, residential properties and a guesthouse of Reliance Infrastructure Limited in Santacruz—all in Mumbai—are among the eighteen immovable assets temporarily attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

According to the ED, Reliance Value Services Private Limited's 231 land parcels and seven residential apartments in Chennai have also been attached as part of the same order.

The company stated that "all real estate assets at Ballard Estate, including the Company's assets valued at Rs 397.46 crore, are held on a long-term lease from the Bombay Port Trust (BPT)" .

The company said it will take all "appropriate" action to protect the interests of its shareholders based on legal advice.

It said the majority of assets -- all worth Rs 10,117 crore -- attached by the ED, in terms of value, pertains to Reliance Communications, a company that has not been part of the group since 2019.

"Mr. Anil D. Ambani has not served on the Board of Directors of Reliance Infrastructure Limited for more than three-and-a-half years," it said.

The industrialist has once been questioned by the ED as part of the money-laundering investigation linked to an alleged Rs 17,000-crore bank fraud against his Group companies.

The ED said during 2017-2019, Yes Bank invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL instruments. By December 2019, these had become non-performing investments, it claimed.

The outstanding was Rs 1,353.5 crore for RHFL and Rs 1,984 crore for RCFL, and the probe found that the two companies received public funds worth more than Rs 11,000 crore, according to the ED.

"Before Yes Bank invested this money in Reliance Anil Ambani group companies, Yes Bank had received huge funds from the erstwhile Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund.

Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund was prohibited by SEBI standards from directly investing or diverting funds in Anil Ambani group financial companies because of conflict-of-interest restrictions, according to the ED.

As a result, they indirectly directed public funds through mutual fund schemes, passing through the exposures of Yes Bank.

According to the CBI, the Anil Ambani group entities received the public funds in a "circuitous" manner.

In this instance, the ED stated that it is "actively" investigating financial crime criminals and is dedicated to returning the proceeds of crime to their legitimate claimants.