CBI files fresh case against Anil Ambani, RCOM over Rs 2,220 crore bank 'fraud'

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a fresh case against industrialist Anil Ambani — currently under global scrutiny thanks to his name appearing in the Epstein files — and Reliance Communications (RCOM), accusing them of cheating the Bank of Baroda and causing a wrongful loss exceeding Rs 2,220 crore between 2013 and 2017.

The case follows a complaint submitted by the bank earlier this week, officials said on Thursday.

Soon after filing the FIR, the agency carried out searches at Ambani’s residence as well as at the registered offices of Reliance Communications Ltd. According to a CBI spokesperson, investigators recovered documents linked to the loan transactions under scrutiny.

At the heart of the allegations is the claim that loans extended by Bank of Baroda were diverted and misused through fictitious transactions involving related entities.

“The allegations in the FIR are that Bank of Baroda has suffered a loss of more than Rs 2,220 crore due to the loans availed by Reliance Communications which were allegedly diverted and misutilised by creating fictitious transactions with related parties,” the spokesperson said.

Officials noted that the loan account had already been declared a non-performing asset (NPA) in 2017. However, further action had been stalled after Ambani approached the Bombay High Court, which stayed the classification of the account as fraud. That stay was lifted on 23 February, paving the way for the bank’s complaint and the CBI’s swift registration of the case.

There was no immediate response from Reliance Communications.

In its complaint, Bank of Baroda has accused Ambani and RCOM of systematically misusing borrowed funds in violation of sanctioned terms. The bank has also alleged manipulation of accounts to conceal financial irregularities and misrepresent the company’s financial health.

The complaint claims that loan proceeds were diverted through complex fund flows, including recycling and layering of money to mask their ultimate use.

According to the bank, RCOM and its related entities — Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL) and Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) — collectively received Rs 31,580 crore from banks and financial institutions.

Of this:

• Rs 6,265.85 crore was used to repay loans from other banks

• Rs 5,501.56 crore was transferred to related or connected parties

• Rs 3,674.85 crore was invested in fixed deposits and mutual funds

These investments were allegedly liquidated soon after and routed to various parties, suggesting the funds were not utilised for their sanctioned purposes.

The complaint further alleges that Rs 1,783.65 crore raised by RITL was channelled through Reliance Communications Infrastructure Ltd (RCIL) and used by RCOM to service its own liabilities or transferred onward to related entities.

The account was formally classified as an NPA from June 5, 2017 due to persistent repayment defaults and irregular fund utilisation. A subsequent forensic audit, the bank claims, confirmed diversion and misappropriation of funds — pointing to fraudulent intent.

Investigators are also examining what the bank describes as suspicious transactions between RCOM, Reliance Infratel and Reliance Telecom. These transactions allegedly involved high-value receivables and payables being reassigned across entities, raising concerns of deliberate fund diversion.

In its complaint, the bank alleged that:

“…the borrower company (Reliance Communications) along with its Promoter and Chairman (Anil Ambani) in pursuance of a well knitted criminal conspiracy and with dishonest intention of causing wrongful loss to our bank and wrongful gain to themselves diverted/siphoned off the funds disbursed to them, dishonestly misappropriated the loan amount.”

The new FIR adds to the mounting legal scrutiny faced by RCOM.

The CBI had earlier registered a separate case based on a complaint from State Bank of India, the lead lender in a consortium of 11 banks. However, officials clarified that Bank of Baroda was not part of that consortium, and the present case relates to a separate set of loans extended by Bank of Baroda, along with the erstwhile Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank.

The development comes on the same day that Ambani appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai for a second round of questioning in a money laundering probe linked to alleged bank fraud involving his group companies.

Officials said his statement was recorded under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He had earlier been questioned by the ED in August 2025.

That investigation relates to an alleged bank fraud exceeding Rs 40,000 crore involving Reliance Communications.

With PTI inputs