‘Anil Ambani denies all allegations and charges…,’ Industrialist’s spokesperson issues BIG remark after CBI books RCom in Rs 2929 crore SBI bank fraud case

The CBI on Saturday searched the Mumbai residence of Reliance Communication Ltd. (RCOM) Director Anil Ambani after recently registering a case over the alleged defrauding of State Bank of India(SBI) of Rs 2929.05 crore. The teams of CBI conducted the searches at two locations in Mumbai on Saturday — the official premises of Reliance Communication Ltd. and residential premises of Anil D Ambani, the agency said in a statement, reported news agency PTI.

What made the CBI raid on Anil Ambani’s residence and RCom offices?

The CBI action took place after the agency registered an FIR on Thursday against Reliance Communication Ltd (RCom), Mumbai, its Director Anil D Ambani, unknown public servants, and unknown others on the basis of a complaint from the SBI, it stated. The searches took place at Ambani’s residence ‘Sea Wind’ at Cuffe Parade in Mumbai, sources were quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

How did Anil Ambani’s spokesperson respond to the allegations?

While reacting to the developments, a spokesperson on behalf of the businessman stated, “Anil D Ambani denies all allegations and charges, and will duly defend himself.” As noted in the FIR, Reliance Communications, Reliance Telecom Limited, and Reliance Infratel Limited collectively raised Rs 31,580 crore from various lenders. The complaint from SBI also states that the companies provided false documentation, diverted funds, and put fraudulent transactions into work.

A spokesperson for Anil Ambani stated the complaint filed by State Bank of India (SBI) pertains to matters dating back more than 10 years. He further stated that at the relevant time, he was a Non-Executive Director of the company, with no involvement in the day-to-day management.

Reliance Communications is presently being managed and operated under the supervision of a Committee of Creditors, led by SBI and overseen by a Resolution Professional. “The matter remains sub judice, pending before the NCLT and other judicial forums, including the Supreme Court, for the past six years,” it added.

Furthermore, it added that Anil D Ambani has duly challenged SBI’s declaration before the competent judicial forum. The CBI said it booked Ambani and RCom for allegedly committing offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust. The CBI spokesperson said, “It is alleged that the accused persons, in criminal conspiracy, misrepresented and got sanctioned credit facilities from SBI in favour of Reliance Communication Ltd.”

How much loan did RCom and its associate firms raise from banks?

As per the SBI complaint, Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCom), Reliance Infratel Ltd. (RITL), a step-down subsidiary of RCOM, and Reliance Telecom Ltd. (RTL), a subsidiary of RCom, cumulatively received Rs. 31,580 crores from banks.

The forensic audit carried out in 2020 mapped the utilisation of funds raised from banks, which flagged deviations in funds received and utilised by RCom. It alleged that the utilisation was not as per the terms of sanction.

It is alleged that Rs. 13667.73 crore (44 pc) were utilised for repayment of loans and other obligations to Banks and FIIs, and Rs 12692.31 crore (41 pc) were utilised to pay to connected parties.

The audit underlined that Rs. 6265.85 crore obtained from banks through loans were utilised for repayment of other bank loans, Rs. 5501.56 crore of loans were used for paying related and connected parties and investment of Rs. 1883.08 crore were made from the loans received from various banks, it alleged while giving details of a number of other irregular transactions.

“Most of these investments were liquidated immediately and utilised for payments to related and non-related parties,” it said. Capital advances given to Netizen Engineering Pvt. Ltd. — a group company of Reliance ADA Group — were written off. Besides, fictitious debtors were created and written off, the CBI Spokesperson said in the statement.

What did the forensic audit of 2020 uncover about fund usage?

The audit had red-flagged a capital advance of Rs 5525 crore extended to Netizen Engineering Pvt Ltd (Netizen) in 2015-16. “In 2017-18, Netizen acquired two assets (one tangible worth Rs. 3041.24 crore and a receivable worth Rs. 3042 crore) from Millenium Private Network Ltd. (MP’NL), one of which was immediately transferred to RCIL.

“The valuation of these assets is not clear. On transfer of this asset, RCom wrote off the capital advance it had given to Netizen against receivable balance from RCIL,” the audit report submitted by the SBI for registration of the FIR said. In addition, multiple other accounts have been assigned to Netizen to reduce its receivable balance by RCom and RTL, it is alleged. The financial background of Netizen is not commensurate with the scale of activities as shown in the books RCom. Netizen and RCOM appear to be closely connected entities, the audit report alleged.

“Further money transferred by Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. (RJIO), the flagship telecom arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on the sale of spectrum to RCom was also transferred to Netizen, which was further transferred to entities with a weak financial background. Thus, the possibility that the account of Netizen was utilised to siphon money could not be ruled out,” it alleged. The audit said that Netizen transactions do not appear genuine or conducted in the normal course of business.

The audit said that Netizen transactions do not appear genuine or conducted in the normal course of business. “Transactions appear to be an attempt at diversion of funds by manipulation of books of accounts through fictitious accounts and fictitious entries. It appears that they have committed the offences of misappropriation of funds and breach of trust with dishonest intention,” the audit report alleged.

The audit report alleged, “Transactions appear to be an attempt at diversion of funds by manipulation of books of accounts through fictitious accounts and fictitious entries. It appears that they have committed the offences of misappropriation of funds and breach of trust with dishonest intention.”

The CBI obtained search warrants from the Special CBI court, Mumbai, on August 22, 2025, following which searches were conducted on Saturday. The SBI had classified the account and promoter Anil Ambani as ‘fraud’ on November 10, 2020 and filed a complaint with the CBI on January 5, 2021. However, the complaint was returned in view of the ‘status quo’ order dated January 6, 2021, by the Delhi High Court, reported news agency PTI.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

1. A spokesperson on behalf of the businessman stated, “Anil D Ambani denies all allegations and charges, and will duly defend himself.”
2. The audit had red-flagged a capital advance of Rs 5525 crore extended to Netizen Engineering Pvt Ltd (Netizen) in 2015-16.
3. The forensic audit carried out in 2020 mapped the utilisation of funds raised from banks, which flagged deviations in funds received and utilised by RCom.
4. The CBI said it booked Ambani and RCom for allegedly committing offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust.

Meanwhile, a Supreme Court judgement dated March 27, 2023, in State Bank of India and Others Vs Rajesh Agarwal and Others case mandated that lenders provide borrowers with an opportunity to represent before classifying their accounts as fraud. The fraud classification in the account was reversed by the bank on September 2, 2023. The fraud classification process was re-run, and the account was again classified as ‘fraud’ after following the due process as per the RBI circular dated July 15, 2024.

(With PTI Inputs)

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