India's financial crime agency probes Anil Ambani's Reliance Group
The Enforcement Directorate alleges the group orchestrated a 'well-planned' scheme to siphon off bank loans from YES Bank worth 30 billion rupees (S$443.1 million) between 2017 and 2019 to many shell companies, the source said on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Anil Ambani's Reliance group entities are accused of paying bribes to YES Bank officials before loans were disbursed, the source said, adding that loan approvals violated the bank's processes.
Reliance and YES Bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Several group firms of Anil Ambani, the younger brother of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, have gone into bankruptcy since 2017.
YES Bank, from which Anil Ambani group firms had borrowed heavily, was declared insolvent in 2020 and rescued by a group of Indian lenders in a plan approved by the central bank. Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp is seeking a 20 per cent stake in a deal that has yet to get regulatory approval.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
The probe also found gross violations in YES Bank's loan approval process, such as lending to companies with weak financials, backdating credit memos, 'evergreening' loans – issuing fresh loans to avoid labelling assets as nonperforming – and misrepresenting financials.
YES Bank's former promoter, Rana Kapoor, was charged with bank fraud by the financial crime agency in 2020 and later arrested. He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in 2024 by a special court in India's financial capital of Mumbai, according to local media reports.
Anil Ambani's group entities have been subject to several regulatory actions in recent years. In August 2024, the markets regulator SEBI barred Anil Ambani and 24 others from securities markets for five years, citing fund diversion from Reliance Home Finance.
Shares of Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power fell as much as 5 per cent on Thursday after the news of the latest probe circulated. REUTERS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Straits Times
Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernandez applications are a hoax, says Indian football federation
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Spanish coaches Xavi Hernandez (left) and Pep Guardiola have not applied to helm India's football team. NEW DELHI – Coaching applications supposedly from Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernandez to manage India's football team turned out to be a hoax, the national association said on July 26. Subrata Paul, national team director of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), told The Times of India on July 24 that Xavi had applied for the vacant job. The report also quoted an AIFF technical committee member saying his candidacy was deemed too expensive to pursue. But the AIFF this weekend said the approaches were not 'genuine'. 'The AIFF received an email furnishing the applications from Spanish coaches Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernandez. The authenticity of their applications could not be confirmed, and it has since emerged that the email applications were not genuine,' the AIFF said in a statement. Manchester City manager Guardiola's application was never reported earlier. In May, Xavi told The Athletic that he follows the Indian Super League due to the number of Spanish coaches plying their trade there. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Car that fell into Tanjong Katong Road South sinkhole removed; road remains closed for repairs Singapore Workers used nylon rope to rescue driver of car that fell into Tanjong Katong Road sinkhole Life Vet Talk: Pet owners and vets need to work together to prevent infectious zoonotic diseases Singapore Benchmark barrier: Six of her homeschooled kids had to retake the PSLE Singapore For Singapore to do well, PAP govt has to continue to hold its own: SM Lee Asia S'porean trainee doctor in Melbourne arrested for allegedly filming colleagues in toilets since 2021 Singapore Mum at 15: More teens in Singapore gave birth in 2024 Business Already owning 5 properties, woman wanted elderly dad's 4 homes He said: 'La Liga (I follow) the most. Then the Premier League. Not so much the French league, but sometimes I'll watch PSG or Marseille, especially Paris. Italy, I follow Como because I have a couple of friends there, Sergi Roberto and Cesc Fabregas. 'I have good friends in Saudi (Arabia) and Qatar, so I follow the leagues there. I watch a lot. I love football. I also follow Panama because my friend is there. And sometimes the Indian League because many Spanish coaches are there.' Indian newspaper The Telegraph reported on July 26 that a 19-year-old student at Vellore Institute of Technology has claimed credit for the prank Xavi application but said he did not send the notice of interest for Guardiola. He said he created a fake e-mail and asked ChatGPT to 'Write an e-mail by Xavi Hernandez expressing his interest to coach the Indian football team', which he eventually sent to the AIFF twice. The AIFF sacked former India manger Igor Stimac in June 2024 before appointing Spaniard Manolo Marquez, who left the job in July and returned to his role as coach of Indian Super League team FC Goa after just one year and one win in eight games. India's next opponents are Singapore in an Asian Cup qualifying double header in October. The AIFF technical committee said it had reviewed 170 applications for the national coach role, narrowing the list to 10, before short-listing three candidates. India are 133rd in the Fifa rankings – their lowest placing in nearly a decade – and have won just one of their last 16 matches. AFP, REUTERS
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Metallurgy degree for IT job in Singapore? Why not, says Tata Consultancy's growth markets chief
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Mr Girish Ramachandran, Tata Consultancy Services' president of growth markets, said about 68 per cent of TCS staff in Singapore are local. SINGAPORE – India's venerable Tata Group has had a special place in Singapore's industrial history since the early 1970s, when Tata Precision Engineering opened for operations, initiating a trail of group companies that found its way to the island. Mr Ratan Tata, the late group chairman, served for years on the Economic Development Board's International Advisory Council, and was the first Indian to be granted honorary Singapore citizenship.
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Indian firm says it shipped non-military explosives to Russia
NEW DELHI - An Indian firm that shipped $1.4 million worth of an explosive compound with military uses to Russia in December said on Saturday it complies with Indian rules and the substance it had shipped was for civilian industrial purposes. Reuters reported on July 24 that Ideal Detonators Private Limited shipped the compound, known as HMX or octogen, to two Russian explosives manufacturers despite U.S. threats to impose sanctions on any entity supporting Russia's Ukraine war effort. One of the Russian companies listed in Indian customs data as receiving the compound is the explosives manufacturer Promsintez. An official at Ukraine's SBU security service has said the Russian company has ties to the military and that Ukraine launched a drone attack in April against a Promsintez-owned factory. Promsintez did not respond to a request for comment. Ideal Detonators said in an emailed response to Reuters that the material it shipped was not military grade. "The shipment ... is for industrial activity and it's a civil explosive," the company said. The U.S. government has identified HMX as "critical for Russia's war effort" and has warned financial institutions against facilitating any sales of the substance to Moscow. The U.S. Treasury Department has the authority to sanction those who sell HMX and similar substances to Russia, sanctions lawyers have said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Woman taken to hospital after car falls into sinkhole on Tanjong Katong Road Singapore Students hide vapes in underwear, toilet roll holders: S'pore schools grapple with vaping scourge Singapore 'I've tried everything': Mum helpless as son's Kpod addiction spirals out of control Singapore NDP 2025: How Benjamin Kheng is whisked from Marina Bay to Padang in 10 minutes by boat, buggy Singapore Almost half of planned 30,000 HDB flats in Tengah to be completed by end-2025: Chee Hong Tat Singapore From libraries to living rooms: How reading habits take root in underserved S'pore children Asia Thai-Cambodia clashes spread along frontier as death toll rises Asia Thousands rally in downtown Kuala Lumpur for resignation of PM Anwar HMX is widely used in missile and torpedo warheads, rocket motors, exploding projectiles and plastic-bonded explosives for advanced military systems, according to the Pentagon's Defense Technical Information Center and related defense research programs. The compound also has some limited civilian applications in mining and other industrial activities. REUTERS
