CBI books Anil Ambani’s son and Reliance Home Finance in Rs 228-crore bank fraud case

The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) has registered a case against Jai Anmol Anil Ambani — son of industrialist Anil Ambani — and RHFL (Reliance Home Finance Ltd) in an alleged fraud that caused a loss of Rs 228 crore to Union Bank of India, officials said on Tuesday. Former RHFL director Ravindra Sharad Sudhakar has also been named in the FIR.

The CBI acted on a complaint filed by Union Bank (formerly Andhra Bank), which had sanctioned credit limits of Rs 450 crore to RHFL through its SCF branch in Mumbai.

According to the bank, the loan was meant to support the company’s business operations and was subject to strict financial discipline, including timely repayment, regular servicing of interest, proper submission of security details and routing of all sale proceeds through the designated bank account.

Officials said RHFL failed to honour repayment commitments, leading the bank to classify the account as a non-performing asset on 30 September 2019.

A forensic audit conducted by Grant Thornton, covering the period from 1 April 2016 to 30 June 2019, allegedly found that the company misapplied borrowed funds and diverted them for purposes other than those approved by the lender.

The bank claimed this amounted to manipulation of accounts, criminal breach of trust and siphoning of funds by the accused in their capacity as former promoters and directors of RHFL.

“The accused persons… committed fraudulent misappropriation of funds through manipulation of accounts and criminal breach of trust, and diverted/siphoned off the funds for purposes other than the purpose for which finance was extended,” the complaint alleged.

The CBI is likely to examine financial statements, loan utilisation records and transactions flagged in the forensic report as part of its wider investigation into suspected fund diversion and potential beneficiary entities.

With PTI inputs