CBI arrests former Reliance Capital CFO Amit Bapna in Reliance ADA Group probe

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Amit Bapna, former chief financial officer (CFO) of Reliance Capital Limited, in connection with its ongoing investigation into alleged financial irregularities involving companies of the Reliance ADA Group, officials said on Saturday.

According to the CBI, Bapna served as the CFO of Reliance Capital Limited between August 2014 and December 2019 and was "one of the key decision makers responsible for managing the financial affairs of the company".

In a statement, the agency alleged that Bapna facilitated and approved loans to intermediary and conduit companies despite being aware that such lending was contrary to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines and the sanction conditions governing borrowings from public sector banks.

The CBI alleged that its investigation had found that funds borrowed by Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) were diverted through intermediary entities to various Reliance ADA Group companies, including Reliance Capital Limited, Reliance Infrastructure Limited and Reliance Power Limited. According to the agency, the alleged diversion caused wrongful losses to lending banks while conferring corresponding wrongful gains on the accused persons and related entities.

There was no immediate response from Reliance Capital Limited or other companies named in the CBI statement.

Bapna was already in judicial custody in a separate case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and was lodged in Tihar Jail in Delhi.

The CBI said it obtained a production warrant from the Special Judge for CBI cases in Mumbai to secure his custody in the present case. He was produced before the CBI Special Court in Mumbai and formally arrested on Saturday.

The court subsequently remanded Bapna to four days of CBI custody for further investigation.

The CBI has registered seven First Information Reports (FIRs) against Reliance Communications Limited (RCom), Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) and Reliance Telecom Limited (RTL) based on complaints filed by various public sector banks and the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

The agency filed its first chargesheet in the Reliance Communications case on 29 May against 16 accused, including the company, five of its senior executives and 10 bank officials.

According to the CBI, Bapna is the sixth person to be arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation into the Reliance ADA Group cases.