The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 31 immovable properties worth over 581 crore rupees in connection with the case related to Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL). ED informed that the attached properties are land parcels located in Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
It added that the attachment follows search operations conducted on the 6th of this month in the case of Reliance Power Limited under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 – FEMA
The ED said that it had earlier attached properties worth over 15,729 crore rupees in bank fraud cases related to RCFL, RHFL and Reliance Communications Limited. With the latest action, the cumulative attachment in cases linked to the Reliance Anil Ambani Group has reached over 16,310 crore rupees.
During searches conducted under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002, PMLA and FEMA, assets worth 2 crore 48 lakh rupees in the form of fixed deposits, mutual funds and cash were also frozen or seized. The ED has further seized balances in 13 bank accounts of Reliance Infrastructure Limited, amounting to 77 crore 86 lakh rupees under Section 37A of FEMA.
According to the ED, RHFL and RCFL raised public funds from multiple banks and financial institutions, of which more than 11 thousand crore rupees turned into non-performing assets. The investigation revealed that these funds were allegedly diverted to various group companies, including Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power, Reliance Communications and Reliance Capital Limited, through several shell and dummy entities with negligible financial strength and no business operations. The ED said that further investigation in the case is underway.
