LOC issued against Anil Ambani in Rs 17,000 crore loan fraud probe

New Delhi:  A Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued on Friday against Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) Chairman Anil Ambani, on the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in connection with an alleged Rs 17,000-crore loan fraud case.

Anil Ambani has been asked to appear at the ED headquarters in the national capital on August 5, according to people familiar with the matter.

Last week, the agency carried out searches across 35 locations in Mumbai linked to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group, covering 50 companies and 25 individuals, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Investigators seized voluminous documents, hard drives, and other digital records from several locations across Mumbai and Delhi.

The raids first began on Thursday in connection with a money laundering probe related to the Yes Bank loan fraud case.

The probe is based on an FIR filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police on November 11, 2024.

According to the ED, its investigation has uncovered links between ADAG companies and a fake bank guarantee worth Rs 68.2 crore submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

The bogus guarantee was allegedly issued in the names of Reliance NU BESS Limited and Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited — both affiliated with the group.

Investigators say the guarantee was entirely fabricated and backed by forged documents meant to impersonate the State Bank of India (SBI).

The fraud reportedly involved the use of a spoofed email domain, “s-bi.co.in”, which closely resembled SBI’s official domain, “sbi.co.in”, to make the forged guarantee appear genuine.

The ED has also approached the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) to obtain domain registration records and trace the origin of the fraudulent email activity.

In response, group firms Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure informed the stock exchanges that while they acknowledge the ED’s actions, the searches have had “absolutely no impact” on their business operations, financial health, or stakeholder interests.

“The media reports appear to pertain to allegations concerning transactions of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) or Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) which are over 10 years old,” the companies had said.

–IANS