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CBI books RCOM, Anil Ambani, in ₹2,929 cr SBI loan fraud case; searches premises
CBI officials said the searches were conducted at the official premises linked to RCOM, and the residential premises of industrialist Anil Ambani
MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday carried out searches in Mumbai at premises linked to telecom firm Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM) and industrialist Anil Ambani as part of its probe into an alleged bank loan fraud case registered on a complaint filed by state-owned State Bank of India (SBI), CBI officials said.
CBI officials said the searches were conducted at the official premises linked to RCOM, and the residential premises of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Group chairman Anil Ambani.
The agency registered the first information report (FIR) in this connection on Thursday and obtained search warrants from a special CBI court in Mumbai on Friday.
A spokesperson for Ail Ambani later issued a statement, denying all allegations and charges. The spokesperson said the SBI's complaint pertained to matters dating back more than 10 years and Anil Ambani was a non-executive director of the company, with no involvement in the day-to-day management at the time.
The FIR cited a complaint sent by SBI deputy general manager Jyoti Kumar on August 18 “regarding the alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal misconduct by accused company M/s Reliance Communication Ltd. and its Director ShrI Anil Ambani, unknown public servants and unknown others”. The bank alleged it was cheated to the tune of Rs. 2929.05 crore.
HT has reviewed a copy of the FIR.
The FIR stated that the accused, as part of a criminal conspiracy, obtained credit facilities from SBI in favour of RCOM through misrepresentation and subsequently misutilised or diverted the funds received from the bank.
“The allegations pertain to misutilisation and or diversion of loan funds, potential routing of loan funds, inter-company loan transactions, misutilization of sales invoice financing, discounting of bills of RCOM by M/s Reliance Infratel Ltd., movement of funds through inter corporate deposits, write off of capital advances given to M/s Netizen Engineering Pvt Ltd - a group company of Reliance ADA Group, and creation/write off of fictitious debtors,” a CBI official said, citing the FIR.
The loan accounts were classified as fraud in June in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management and SBI’s Board-approved Policy on Classification, Reporting & Management of Frauds.
Later, Reliance Communications, in a regulatory filing, said it had received a letter dated June 23, 2025, from SBI on the case.
The finance ministry told the Lok Sabha in a written reply last month that the credit exposure of SBI in Reliance Communications comprised a fund-based principal outstanding amount of around ₹2,227 crore along with the accrued interest and expenses with effect from August 26, 2016, and a non-fund-based Bank Guarantee of around Rs.786 crore. The firm was put through the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
A spokesperson for Anil Ambani, however, dismissed all charges.
“The complaint filed by SBI pertains to matters dating back more than 10 years,” the spokesperson said.
“At the relevant time, Mr Ambani was a non-executive director of the company, with no involvement in the day-to-day management. It is pertinent to note that SBI, by its own order, has already withdrawn proceedings against five other non-executive directors. Despite this, Mr Ambani has been selectively singled out.”
The spokesperson added: “At present, Reliance Communications is being managed 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 Hon’ble Supreme Court, for the past six years. Mr Ambani has duly challenged SBI’s declaration before the competent judicial forum. Mr Ambani strongly denies all allegations and charges, and will duly defend himself.”
In a separate case, the Delhi unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches in Delhi and Mumbai across official premises of several firms connected to the Group last month as part of its money-laundering investigation related to bank loan default and other financial malpractices.
After the ED searches in July, a Reliance Group functionary, who didn’t want to be named, said, “Anil Ambani resigned from the board of RCOM in 2019. Presently, Anil Ambani is not on the board of any Reliance Group companies”.
This person said RCOM was not part of the Reliance Group, which currently has only two listed companies – Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. and Reliance Power Ltd.
“Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) has been under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) pursuant to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, for over six years. State Bank of India (SBI) did not grant Anil D. Ambani an opportunity for a personal hearing before its committee made its decision in the matter.”
