Anil Ambani, RCom in Spotlight as ED Files Fresh Money Laundering Case in Rs2,929 Crore SBI Fraud: Report
Moneylife Digital Team 10 September 2025
The directorate of enforcement (ED) has registered a money laundering case against industrialist Anil Ambani and Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) in connection with an alleged Rs2,929 crore fraud at State Bank of India (SBI). The case, lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from a first information report (FIR) filed last month by central bureau of investigation (CBI).
 
According to a report from Economic Times (ET) on 21 August 2025, CBI booked RCom, its director Anil Ambani, unnamed public servants and others for allegedly defrauding SBI. The agency also carried out searches at Mr Ambani’s residence in Mumbai and at RCom’s corporate offices as part of its investigation.
 
CBI’s FIR was based on a complaint from Jyoti Kumar, deputy general manager of SBI’s Mumbai branch, who alleged that a forensic audit conducted on 15 October 2020, had revealed irregularities in loan utilisation.
 
Acting on the CBI case, ED has widened its probe, writing to nearly 20 public and private sector banks to obtain details of loans sanctioned to Anil Ambani-led Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) group companies. The agency has also sought credit assessments carried out at the time of sanctioning, as it investigates whether bank funds were diverted or laundered through shell entities and offshore channels.
 
ED has already questioned several senior Reliance ADA group executives. “On Tuesday, Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, a long-time aide of Ambani, appeared before the agency once again. Mr Jhunjhunwala and other officials had previously been summoned in connection with a larger Rs17,000 crore loan fraud probe involving multiple Reliance ADA group companies,” the report from ET says.
 
This fresh case adds to at least three other money laundering cases already filed by ED against Ambani, his companies and associates in relation to alleged bank frauds.
 
Mr Ambani has strongly denied the allegations. A spokesperson for the industrialist described the accusations as baseless and told ET that Ambani had been 'selectively singled out.'
 
“The complaint filed by SBI pertains to matters dating back more than 10 years. At the relevant time, Mr Ambani was a non-executive director of the company, with no involvement in day-to-day management,” the spokesperson said, following CBI raids in August.
 
ED’s latest action comes at a time when investigative agencies are intensifying their scrutiny of alleged bank loan frauds linked to corporate borrowers. The case underscores concerns over governance standards, loan sanctioning practices and the role of forensic audits in uncovering irregularities.
 
With both CBI and ED pursuing parallel investigations, the spotlight is once again on Anil Ambani and his Reliance ADA group whose debt-laden ventures have faced multiple insolvency and legal proceedings in recent years.
 
Earlier this month, Bank of Baroda (BoB) classified the loan accounts of RCom and the company's former director Anil Dhirajlal Ambani as ‘fraud’, making it the third state-run lender to take such action against the debt-laden telecom company and its promoter.
 
Anil Ambani, who stepped down as director of RCom years ago, was explicitly named in BoB’s notice in his capacity as the company’s former promoter and director.
 
BoB’s move follows similar actions by two other major public sector banks. In June, SBI tagged RCom’s loan accounts as fraudulent. Soon after, on 24 August 2025, Bank of India (BoI) also classified the company’s accounts as fraudulent and included Ambani in its order.
 
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Comments
ablesh.k.tripathi
4 months ago
Anil Ambani, the oldest court jester of Narendra Modi since his Gujarat CM days is finally being nailed. Diversion of funds, fraud are out in the open with CBI and ED following the trail.

It’s the best opportunity for PM to come clean of crony capitalism, by letting the thorn of his throne face the long arms of law. Or will Anil Ambani go Scot free yet again. Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi together did not force banks to take a haircut what Anil Ambani did single handedly. Not to forget small shareholders like us whose shares are worth Pennies to a 1000 rs.. that itself would be a loss of over 1 lakh crore to all shareholders
pentaserviceinc
4 months ago
If ED is indeed serious, they should grill Amitabh Jhunjhunwala on AJ Capital (Singapore) and TAJ Capital Partners in India.. Then there may be more shell companies where Jhunjhunwala would have been receiving "bonuses" masked as "Training" and other heads which might have been "Trading" income cuts. Whether some investments were made before Reliance Mutual Fund entered those very stocks, is another angle to be explored. If there is a will, more skeletons will tumble.

Sandeepa Virk linked Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman's allegedly "unpaid and written off" loans of Rs. 40 crore may be look like petty change, as compared to the figures that would emerge from endeavors of Anil Ambani's master planner Amitabh Jhunjhunwala. But whether Jhunjhunwala's proximity to the "power circles" is indeed what he claims, then he too will emerge as "not guilty" alongwith Anil Ambani, by the time the probe fizzles out.

The Billion dollar funds managed by Amitabh Jhunjhunwala's son (also named in Pandora Papers), may ultimately link back to none other than Anil Ambani. Otherwise where did Abhinav Jhunjhunwala's AJ Capital family office get the "richie rich" investors to hand over the moolah to a then 30 year old Univ of California graduate who had just 4-5 years of junior / mid-level experience with Deutsche Bank before starting the Family Office.
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