The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a fresh criminal case against Reliance Communications Limited (RCom), its former chairman Anil Ambani, and ex-director Manjari Ashok Kacker, along with several unidentified individuals. The case relates to an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 1,085 crore involving Punjab National Bank (PNB) and the former United Bank of India, which has since merged with the PNB.
The case, registered through a First Information Report (FIR) dated March 5, accuses the company and its leadership of cheating financial institutions during the period between April 2013 and March 2017. Investigators allege that the irregularities resulted in heavy financial losses to the banks.
Allegations Of Loan Diversion And Financial Irregularities
According to the FIR, investigators believe the company failed to adhere to financial discipline while handling the sanctioned loan. Authorities claim that the funds were diverted, and the conditions attached to the loan approval were not followed.
As per the complaint filed by the bank, the loan account began to show irregularities and was eventually declared a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) in June 2017. Officials suspect that portions of the loan were diverted through payments to entities that were allegedly connected to the company.
The complaint further indicated that the suspected diversion involved transactions routed to related parties, raising concerns about how the borrowed funds were utilised. Investigators are examining the financial trail to determine whether the loan money was used for purposes other than those originally approved by the lending institutions.
Third CBI Case Linked to Reliance Communications
This development marks the third case filed by the CBI against Reliance Communications in connection with alleged bank fraud.
Earlier, on February 24, the agency initiated another case against the company, Anil Ambani, and other individuals. That case involved allegations of cheating Bank of Baroda (BoB) in a separate loan transaction valued at Rs 2,220 crore. Following the registration of the case, investigators carried out searches at multiple premises associated with the accused.
In that investigation, officials alleged that loan funds were routed through fictitious transactions involving related companies. It was also claimed that the company’s books of accounts were manipulated to hide financial discrepancies.
Bank of Baroda reportedly declared the loan account a Non-Performing Asset in 2017. However, the classification of the account as a fraud was temporarily halted after Anil Ambani approached the Bombay High Court. The court order stayed the declaration until February 23, when the stay was lifted. Soon after, the bank filed a formal complaint with the CBI, leading to the registration of the case.
Earlier Complaint By SBI and Consortium of Lenders
The first CBI case related to Reliance Communications stemmed from a complaint filed by the State Bank of India (SBI), which acted as the lead bank of a lending consortium comprising 11 financial institutions. Bank of Baroda was not part of this group.
The second case relates to a different set of loans obtained from the Bank of Baroda along with the then Vijaya Bank and the then Dena Bank, both of which later merged with the Bank of Baroda.
ED Probing Money Laundering Angle
Parallel to the CBI’s criminal investigations, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been examining the alleged money-laundering aspects connected to the case.
According to the ED, assets worth more than Rs 15,700 crore linked to the Reliance (Anil Ambani) Group have already been attached as part of the investigation. Among the properties seized is Anil Ambani’s residential property in Mumbai’s Pali Hill, valued at Rs 3,716.83 crore.
The ED has alleged that companies belonging to the group borrowed extensively from both domestic and foreign lenders, with a total outstanding amount of approximately Rs 40,185 crore.
Arrest Of Reliance Power CFO
The financial scrutiny surrounding the group intensified earlier when the Enforcement Directorate arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Reliance Power. He was taken into custody in connection with an alleged loan fraud investigation.
Authorities obtained two days of custody for questioning the senior executive as part of the probe.
The arrest came after months of developments involving bankruptcy proceedings, allegations of loan fraud, and investigative raids conducted by both the ED and the CBI across multiple locations linked to companies within the Reliance Group.
Reliance Companies Distance Themselves From Probe
Amid the ongoing investigations, Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure have repeatedly stated that the searches and investigations conducted by the ED and CBI in connection with Reliance Communications and Anil Ambani have no impact on their respective business operations.
The companies have maintained that their financial and operational activities remain unaffected despite the probes.
Insolvency Proceedings Of RCom
Reliance Communications has been struggling with mounting debt for several years. In June 2019, the company initiated the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
The move followed the accumulation of liabilities amounting to nearly Rs 40,413 crore owed to banks and vendors. Although the company’s Committee of Creditors approved a resolution plan in March 2020, the insolvency proceedings remain ongoing as the NCLT has not yet delivered its final approval.
SBI Labels RCom And Ambani as Fraud
In June 2025, the State Bank of India formally classified Reliance Communications and Anil Ambani as fraud in connection with outstanding dues of Rs 2,227.64 crore. The case also involved a non-fund-based bank guarantee valued at Rs 786.52 crore.
Along with the classification, SBI filed a formal complaint with the CBI against Reliance Communications and Ambani.
The company challenged the fraud classification before the Bombay High Court. However, the court upheld the bank’s decision to label the accounts as fraudulent.
Following SBI’s action, several other lenders, including Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, and Canara Bank, also declared Reliance Communications, Anil Ambani, and other related group companies such as Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power, as fraudulent.
Raids And Investigations Intensify
Investigations intensified in July when the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at around a dozen locations connected to Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure, and Reliance Power in connection with alleged money laundering.
Soon after, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed additional FIRs and chargesheets involving alleged bank fraud across multiple loan transactions tied to companies within the group.
Investigators also carried out search operations at Anil Ambani’s residence and corporate office in August 2025 as part of the expanding probe.
Yes Bank Case
In a separate development on September 20, 2025, the CBI filed a chargesheet against Anil Ambani and others concerning alleged fraudulent transactions between companies associated with him and Yes Bank. The case involves alleged financial irregularities that reportedly caused a loss of Rs 2,796 crore to the bank.
The arrest of Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal on October 11, 2025 is also linked to the investigation into these transactions.
