Reliance Power, Reliance Infra raids | ED action concludes at all locations, says company statement

Reliance Group firms Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) and Reliance Power (RPower) on Sunday said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has concluded searches at their premises and the companies will continue to cooperate with the federal probe agency. "The action by ED has concluded at all locations. The company and all its officials have fully cooperated and will continue to cooperate with the authority," RPower said in its latest stock exchange filing. The company continues to operate in the normal course and the said action has no impact on its business operations, said two separate statements issued by both RInfra as well as RPower. On Saturday, the ED carried out searches against the companies of Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani in Mumbai for the third day and recovered a number of documents and computer peripherals from multiple locations, according to official sources.

The raids were launched on July 24 by the federal probe agency as part of an alleged Rs 3,000-crore bank loan fraud-linked money laundering case apart from multiple other allegations of financial irregularities with crores of rupees by certain companies. "The action by the ED has had no impact on the business operations, financial performance, shareholders, employees, or any other stakeholders," the two companies said in their stock exchange filings. Anil D. Ambani is not on the boards of RInfra and RPower. Accordingly, any action taken against RCOM or RHFL has no bearing or impact on the governance, management, or operations of RInfra and RPower, the two companies said. According to ED sources, the investigation primarily pertains to allegations of illegal loan diversion of around Rs 3,000 crore, given by the Yes Bank to the group companies of Ambani between 2017 and 2019.

The Union government had informed the Parliament recently that the State Bank of India has classified RCOM along with Ambani as 'fraud' and was also in the process of lodging a complaint with the CBI. A bank loan "fraud" of more than Rs 1,050 crore between RCOM and Canara Bank is also under the scanner of the ED apart from some "undisclosed" foreign bank accounts and assets, the ED sources said. Reliance Mutual fund is also stated to have invested Rs 2,850 crore in AT-1 bonds and a "quid pro quo" is suspected here by the agency. Additional Tier 1 (AT-1) are perpetual bonds issued by banks to increase their capital base and they are riskier than traditional bonds having higher interest rates. An alleged loan fund diversion of about Rs 10,000 crore involving Reliance Infrastructure too is under the scanner of the agency.