The directorate of enforcement (ED) has arrested Punit Garg, former director of Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM), in connection with an alleged ₹40,000-crore bank fraud and money laundering case, marking a significant escalation in the long-running investigation into financial irregularities involving companies of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) group.
Mr Garg was arrested on 29 January 2026, by the ED’s special task force (STF) under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, following a probe triggered by a first information report (FIR) registered by central bureau of investigation (CBI) in August 2025. The CBI case relates to offences under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
According to ED, the case pertains to large-scale diversion and laundering of public funds availed by RCOM and its group entities, with outstanding dues of more than ₹40,185 crore, which have been classified as fraud by nine banks.
The agency says Mr Garg held senior managerial and board-level positions at RCOM for nearly two decades, serving as president of the company’s global enterprise business between 2006 and 2013, president (regulatory affairs) from 2014 to 2017, executive director from October 2017, and later as non-executive director until April 2025.
ED investigators allege that during this period, Mr Garg was actively involved in the acquisition, concealment, layering and dissipation of proceeds of crime, generated through fraudulent bank borrowings by RCOM.
The agency claims that funds were routed through multiple foreign subsidiaries and offshore entities, forming part of a complex laundering structure designed to move money out of India and disguise its origin.
One of the most serious allegations relates to the purchase of a luxury condominium apartment in Manhattan, New York, allegedly using proceeds of crime. ED says the property was sold during the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of RCOM without the knowledge or consent of the resolution professional.
According to the agency, the sale proceeds of US$8.3mn (million) were remitted from the US under the guise of a sham investment arrangement with a Dubai-based entity, controlled by a Pakistan-linked individual.
ED alleges that this transaction was structured to further launder illicit funds and keep them beyond the reach of Indian authorities and creditors.
The investigation has also found that part of the proceeds of crime — described by the agency as public money borrowed from banks — was allegedly used by Mr Garg for personal expenditure, including overseas education-related payments for his children.
Following his arrest, Mr Garg was produced before the Special Court (PMLA) at Rouse Avenue Courts in New Delhi. The court granted the ED a nine-day custodial remand, allowing the agency to further trace the money trail, identify other beneficiaries, and uncover the full extent of the alleged laundering network.
The arrest comes days after the ED provisionally attached assets worth ₹1,885 crore linked to the Reliance ADA group in multiple bank fraud cases, including those involving RCOM, Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL).
As
reported earlier by Moneylife, the attached assets include shareholdings of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd in BSES Yamuna Power Ltd, BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd and Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd, along with bank balances and receivables held through group-linked entities.
The agency has said that with the latest attachments, the total value of assets seized in RCOM, RHFL and RCFL-related cases has risen to around ₹12,000 crore.
According to ED findings, loans raised by one group entity were allegedly used to repay liabilities of other group companies, transferred to related parties, or invested in mutual funds, in violation of sanction terms.
The agency claims that over ₹13,600 crore was diverted for evergreening of loans, more than ₹12,600 crore was routed to connected parties, and around ₹1,800 crore was invested in fixed deposits and mutual funds before being liquidated and rerouted within the group.
The probe has also flagged alleged misuse of bill discounting facilities and overseas remittances to siphon off funds.
ED has maintained that its investigation remains ongoing and that it is committed to identifying all beneficiaries of the alleged fraud and restoring proceeds of crime to rightful claimants.
There were a series of global acquisitions in 2007 - 2008. Some being, e Wave World: $500 mn, Yipes Holdings: $300 mn, Vanco: $ 76 Million, Anupam Global Soft. Collectively, the acquisitions were of the tune of $870 Mn Plus, and an additional capex outlay of $3-4 Billion.
While the Capex of $3-4 Bn was an easy way to milk funds abroad; the $870 Mn acquisitions were said to have ultimately funded the much touted 50% acquisition of Dreamworks, where Anil Ambani invested $825 Mn of his "personal funds". The deal was sealed by none other than Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, who was appointed on the board of Reliance Dreamworks and now operates AJ Capital out of Singapore.
A common thread of all international acquisitions by RCOM was that all 4 companies were nearing bankruptcy and were on sale for pennies to the dollar; on verge of closure. Yet Reliance Globalcom CEO Punit Garg paid top dollar exponential multiplier premium on their underutilized assets through 2007-2009. Ultimately, the hugely loss making Reliance Globalcom eventually downed its shutters.
Around this time in 2007-08, another wrongdoing of this group came out when Reliance Infra and RNRL were caught in a Round Tripping probe to the tune of $ 570 million. The key figures Anil Ambani and Sateesh Seth went scot free under a consent order by paying a mere 25 Crore. This period also saw interesting short term investments by RCOM and RNRL. Both raised FCCBs and deposited the money through wholly owned subsidiaries in Singapore. Incidentally the headquarters of Amitabh Jhunjhunwala promoted AJ Capital and AJ Family Offices. This amount too was 6302 Crore in 2007 (approx $1.5 Bn at then forex rates). Interestingly, both RCOM and RNRL raised FCCBs prematurely, paying a higher interest rate than what they were getting on the bank deposits in Singapore. As CEO of the Global business of RCOM, it is pertinent to ask Punit Garg as to why he kept Rs. 5142 Crore in a bank deposit in Singapore and not in any other country. He may not have any answers as he could have been busy routing the money to Amitabh Jhunjhunwala led Rel Capital's Ammolite Holdings to buy the $20 mn Tian, which Anil Ambani gifted Tina Munim in 2008, at the peak of Global Economic Crisis, after Lehman Bros went belly up.
Huge amounts of money went out and came back in, like a frequent flier. Just that this was a case of a frequent offender playing with public money of Indian Banks and Shareholders. There are Punit Garg's or Lalit Jalan's or SC Gupta's who keep changing in these Frequent (round) tripping through hundreds of transactions. The only constants are Anil Ambani, Amitabh Jhunjhunwala and Sateesh Seth; and Anil Ambani being the major beneficiary wherever the transactions terminated.