CBI books Anil Ambani, firm; searches premises in SBI case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday said it has opened a criminal case against Anil Ambani and his company Reliance Communications following a complaint by State Bank of India about alleged fraud as it carried out searches at the industrialist’s south Mumbai residence and premises linked to the company.

- Abhishek Sharan

The raids were carried out across multiple Mumbai locations, including Ambani’s Cuffe Parade home and RCom’s Navi Mumbai office, following search warrants granted by a special CBI court on Friday, over allegations of loan fraud that purportedly led to losses of over 22,929 crore to SBI.

A spokesperson for Anil Ambani, however, dismissed all charges.

The agency registered a first information report on August 21 based on a complaint filed on August I8 by SBI deputy general manager Jyoti Kumar. The bank alleged that RCom and its director Anil Ambani, along with unknown public servants and others, cheated it of 2,929.05 crore through criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal misconduct.

According to the FIR, the accused allegedly obtained credit facilities from SBI through misrepresentation and systematically diverted loan funds between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2017.