ED Charges Reliance Power, Subsidiaries in Fake Bank Guarantee Case
Enforcement Directorate charges Reliance Power, subsidiaries, and executives in Rs 68 crore SECI tender scam; assets worth Rs 5.15 crore attached.
New Delhi, Dec 6: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday filed a chargesheet against Reliance Power Ltd., part of Anil Ambani’s group, and 10 others in a money laundering case linked to a Rs 68 crore fake bank guarantee used to secure a tender from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
The chargesheet, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at the Patiala House Court, names Reliance Power, its subsidiaries Reliance NU BESS Ltd. and Rosa Power Supply Company Ltd., former CFO Ashok Kumar Pal, shell company Biswal Tradelink Private Limited, its MD Patha Sarathi Biswal, Biothane Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., trade financing consultant Amar Nath Dutta, and others.
Both Biswal and former Reliance officials Pal and Dutta are currently in judicial custody, while the case is based on an FIR registered by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing in November 2024.
Details of the Alleged Scam
The case revolves around a tender submitted by Reliance NU BESS Ltd. for 1000 MW/2000 MWh standalone BESS projects under tariff-based competitive bidding.
The ED alleged that Reliance Group officials were aware that the bank guarantee was fake, forged endorsements using a spoofed SBI email, and attempted to create false credibility through a non-existent bank branch in the Philippines and a Malaysian bank. When SECI detected the fraud, Reliance arranged a genuine Bank Guarantee after the due date, which was rejected, and then allegedly tried to arrange a new fake endorsement from SBI Kolkata.
The investigation also revealed:
Funds of Rs 6.33 crore were routed to Biswal Tradelink via Rosa Power Supply Ltd. under fake invoices.
Reliance paid Rs 5.40 crore to the shell entity to depict the transaction as legitimate.
A “dummy” agreement and falsified Certificate of Enlistment from Kolkata Municipal Corporation were submitted.
The ED has attached assets worth Rs 5.15 crore as part of the ongoing probe.
Reliance Group Response
The Reliance Group stated that Anil Ambani was not on the board for over 3.5 years and claimed to be a “victim of fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy,” emphasizing that due disclosures were made to the stock exchange in November 2024.
