Hyderabad: Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani was declared a fraud borrower by Bank of Baroda, adding to earlier actions by the State Bank of India and Bank of India. The decision comes amid ongoing probes by the Enforcement Directorate and CBI into multiple loan fraud cases linked to the group.
Reliance Communications (RCom) confirmed it received a letter from the bank on September 2. The company said it had been sanctioned a credit line of ₹1,600 crore and ₹862.50 crore.
Bank records showed RCom borrowed ₹2,462.50 crore, of which ₹1,656.07 crore remained outstanding as of August 28. The account was classified as a non-performing asset on June 5, 2017.
Bank action deepens scrutiny of Anil Ambani companies
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate raided over 35 premises and 50 companies linked to Ambani on July 24. On August 23, the CBI searched his residence.
RCom said the matter was 12 years old and noted that Ambani was only a non-executive director between 2006 and 2019, without involvement in daily operations or decisions. The company rejected the charges as baseless and said it would seek legal remedies.
Reliance Power, meanwhile, told exchanges that the Bank of Baroda move would not affect its trading operations or financial performance. It also underlined that Anil Ambani has not been on its board for more than three and a half years.
