ED seizes new reliance group assets, total hits over ₹10,000 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached fresh assets worth Rs 1,120 crore of the Reliance Group as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation against companies owned by Anil Ambani, chairman of the group. This latest action brings the total value of assets attached by the agency to over Rs 10,117 crore.

The newly attached properties include the Reliance Centre, a guesthouse, and several residential properties in Mumbai, as well as 231 plots of land and seven residential flats in Chennai. These assets are linked to Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL), and Reliance Value Services Private Limited, the ED said in a statement on Friday.

Among the 18 immovable assets provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are the Reliance Centre in Ballard Estate, a commercial office building of Reliance Infrastructure Limited in Andheri East, and residential properties and a guesthouse of Reliance Infrastructure Limited in Santacruz, all in Mumbai. The ED also attached 231 plots of land in Chennai along with seven flats owned by Reliance Value Services Private Limited.

The latest attachment also includes movable assets such as fixed and bank deposits and shareholding in unquoted investments of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group and certain other entities, bringing the value of the current batch of assets to Rs 1,120 crore.

In response, the Reliance Group clarified that “all real estate assets at Ballard Estate, including assets valued at Rs 397.46 crore, are held on a long-term lease from the Bombay Port Trust (BPT).” The company also emphasised that the majority of the Rs 10,117 crore in assets attached by the ED 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,” the group stated. It added that it would take all “appropriate” steps to protect shareholder interests, based on legal advice.

The ED’s probe is linked to an alleged Rs 17,000-crore bank fraud involving Yes Bank. According to the federal agency, between 2017 and 2019, Yes Bank invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL instruments, which later turned into non-performing assets by December 2019. The outstanding amounts were Rs 1,353.5 crore for RHFL and Rs 1,984 crore for RCFL.

The ED further alleged that these companies had received public funds exceeding Rs 11,000 crore. It said the funds initially came to Yes Bank from the erstwhile Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund. As per SEBI regulations, the mutual fund could not directly invest in Ambani group finance companies due to conflict-of-interest rules. Consequently, the funds were routed indirectly through Yes Bank before reaching the group companies, following what the ED described as a “circuitous” route.

Anil Ambani has previously been questioned by the ED in connection with this investigation. The agency reaffirmed that it is “actively pursuing perpetrators of financial crimes” and remains committed to restituting the proceeds of crime to their rightful claimants in this case.

This latest round of asset attachments reflects the agency’s ongoing efforts to tackle large-scale financial irregularities involving prominent corporate groups and underscores the broader scrutiny of high-value financial transactions involving public funds.