Anil Ambani
The two -day raids of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) across the country on the two major companies of Anil Ambani Group, Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure, have finally ended. This action on these companies was taken under the alleged money laundering case of more than Rs 24,000 crore. On Sunday, the company issued an official statement and confirmed that the raid of the ED has now ended at all places.
The company has clearly stated that it is fully cooperating with the investigating agency and will continue to do it in future also. It was also clarified that this action has neither affected the company’s business, nor on financial performance, investors, employees or any other stakeholders.
Which case was investigated?
The raid, which started on Thursday, was conducted on many companies and individuals associated with Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). The Enforcement Directorate took this action in connection with the investigation of the investment made in the bonds of Yes Bank, Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda and the investment made by Reliance Mutual Fund. ED suspects that these transactions may have serious disturbances like bribe and fund diversion.
More than 35 bases of the country, more than 50 companies and more than 25 people came under this raid. However, Anil Ambani’s Mumbai -based residence was not included in the radar of this investigation.
What did the company clarify?
Both Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure said in their shared statement that the transactions that are under investigation are related to Reliance Communication (RCom) and Reliance Home Finance (RHFL), which have nothing to do with the current activities of Reliance Power and Infra.
The statement also reiterated that Anil Ambani is not part of the board of these two companies. He has resigned from the board of insolvency in 2019 and is no longer a director in any adag company.
How big is the investigation?
According to sources, between 2017 and 2019, loans worth about Rs 3,000 crore were diverted by some companies associated with Adag. The ED has found evidence that the money was transferred from some firms to the accounts linked to Yes Bank Promoters just before the loan was approved, which is feared kickback.
Apart from this, investigation has also revealed that many such companies were given loans, which were already financially weak. In some cases, loans were approved and issued in a single day, along with repeated loans and loans were also done by giving loans to the same directors and address companies.
Group reliability in dangers?
Even though Reliance Power and Infra have currently claimed that the raids had no effect on their operation, but the eyes of the market and investors will remain on the sequel to this case. Especially when the personal insolvency process is also going on against Anil Ambani under IBC, which is being heard in NCLT, Mumbai. Given this whole situation, it would not be wrong to say that even though the investigation is focused on one part, it can affect the credibility of the entire group.