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Reliance Power chief financial officer arrested for ₹68 crore ‘fraud’
Ashok Kumar Pal was arrested under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, following questioning and produced before a special court
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, executive director and chief financial officer of Reliance Power Limited, late on Friday in connection with a money-laundering probe into an alleged fake bank guarantee worth ₹68.2 crore, agency officials said on Saturday.
Pal was arrested under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, following questioning and produced before a special court on Saturday morning, which granted two days of ED custody, officials said.
The case centres on a bank guarantee for an earnest money deposit submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of the listed Reliance Power. The guarantee, purportedly issued by FirstRand Bank in Manila, Philippines, was found to be fake. FirstRand Bank does not operate a branch in the Philippine capital.
Reliance NU BESS Limited was formerly known as Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited.
According to ED officials, Pal played a crucial role in diverting funds and was empowered by the company board to finalise, approve and sign all documents for SECI’s battery energy storage system (BESS) tender, using Reliance Power’s financial capability for the bid.
The probe has implicated Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink, which the ED identified as operating a racket providing fake bank guarantees to business groups. The agency conducted searches against the company and its promoters in August and arrested managing director Partha Sarathi Biswal.
Investigators said the Bhubaneswar-based firm used an email domain—s-bi.co.in—mimicking the State Bank of India’s official domain to create an illusion of legitimacy in communications sent to SECI. “Pal approved releases and facilitated paperwork through Telegram and WhatsApp, bypassing the normal SAP/vendor master workflow,” an official said, adding that Biswal Tradelink’s registered office was a residential property belonging to a relative of Biswal.
The ED’s investigation stems from a first information report filed by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing on November 11, 2024, which alleged that the accused company issued fake bank guarantees in exchange for an 8% commission.
In a stock exchange filing on Saturday, Reliance Power said Pal had resigned from his positions with immediate effect “pending the ongoing matter and in order to assist the investigation.” The company reiterated that it and its subsidiaries “acted bonafidely and are a victim of fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy.”
The company said it had lodged a criminal complaint with Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing on October 16, 2024, against the third party that arranged the alleged fake bank guarantee, based on which the FIR was registered. Reliance Power first disclosed the matter to stock exchanges on November 7, 2024, followed by an update on November 14, 2024.
The company also clarified that Anil Ambani, who heads the broader Reliance Group, has not been on the board of Reliance Power for more than 3.5 years and is “not concerned with this matter in any manner.”
Several other Reliance Group companies have been under ED investigation for the past few months, and Ambani has been questioned by the agency in separate matters.
