The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two senior executives of Reliance Communications (RCom), D. Vishwanath and Anil Kalya, in connection with an alleged bank fraud case involving the Anil D. Ambani-controlled company.
The agency had earlier registered a case against Reliance Communications Limited, Anil D. Ambani and others on a complaint by the State Bank of India (SBI). The complaint alleged that credit facilities sanctioned to the company resulted in a wrongful loss of about Rs 2,929.05 crore to the bank due to fraudulent activities by the borrowers.
SBI further alleged that a total wrongful loss of Rs 19,694.33 crore was caused to 17 public sector banks and financial institutions.
Investigations so far have revealed that RCom allegedly carried out circuitous transactions through shell entities controlled by company officials. The company is also accused of getting letters of credit discounted for allegedly bogus service-related transactions with its group entities, which later devolved, leading to substantial losses for the banks.
Officials said D. Vishwanath, Joint President of RCom, was in charge of the group’s banking operations and allegedly directed the misutilisation of funds. He was also involved in coordinating with banks for sanction and disbursal of credit facilities.
Anil Kalya, Vice President, is alleged to have supported Vishwanath and played a key role in managing corporate finance, banking operations and fund utilisation within the group.
Both accused will be produced before the jurisdictional court. The investigation is ongoing.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate had arrested Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, former group managing director, and Amit Bapna, a senior executive of Reliance Capital Finance Limited, in a related loan fraud case. The probe was linked to alleged loan fraud involving Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL). The case is being investigated under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and stems from multiple FIRs registered earlier by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). These FIRs relate to alleged large-scale financial irregularities and diversion of bank funds involving companies of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group.
ED's investigations have revealed that Anil Ambani group of companies have allegedly laundered over Rs 40,000 crore. ED has attached assets worth Rs 17,000 crore, including his house worth Rs 3,700 crore. Both CBI and ED have questioned Anil Ambani repeatedly. He, however, maintained that resigned from the board of directors from the company in 2017, Times Now learnt.
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