Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a second case against M/s Reliance Communications based on the complaint given by the Bank of Baroda for alleged offences of conspiracy, cheating under IPC and criminal misconduct and abuse of official position under Prevention of Corruption Act, against Anil Ambani, promoter and erstwhile chairman of M/s Reliance Communications (RCOM) and others.
RCOM, a telecommunications service provider in the private sector. has established a pan-India, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent (long distance, voice, data, video and internet) digital network. RCOM owns and operates IP enabled connectivity infrastructure, comprising of a fibre optic cable system.
"The allegations in the FIR are that Bank of Baroda has suffered a loss of more than Rs.2,220 crores due to the loans availed by M/s Reliance Communication which were allegedly diverted and mis-utilized by creating fictitious transactions with related parties. The books of accounts of M/s Reliance Communications Ltd. were manipulated and irregularities concealed," the agency said in a statement. The account was declared a Non-Performing Asset in 2017 itself. However, based on the petition filed by Anil Ambani before the High Court of Bombay, there was stay on the declaration of the accounts as a fraud by the High Court. The stay was vacated on February 23 after which the Bank of Baroda lodged this complaint and CBI took up the case immediately.
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Explaining the alleged role of Anil Ambani in the case, the CBI's FIR stated, "Ambani, being the Promoter and Chairman of RCOM, exercised overall control over the management and financial affairs of the company. His position as Chairman of the Audit Committee entrusted him with critical oversight of end-use of borrowed funds, inter-corporate transactions, and compliance with banking covenants. Evidence from the forensic audit and subsequent proceedings establishes that under his direction and with his knowledge, the company engaged in systematic diversion of funds from sanctioned purposes, unauthorized transactions with group/related entities, and deliberate misrepresentation to lenders. Despite claiming to be a non-executive director, his role as promoter and decision-maker renders him directly accountable for fraudulent conduct of the company."
It may be recalled that CBI has already registered another case previously against M/s Reliance Communications based on a complaint lodged by the SBI which is the lead bank of a consortium consisting of 11 banks. "However, Bank of Baroda was not part of the said consortium, and this is a different loan availed by the Reliance Communication Ld. from Bank of Baroda, the then Vijaya Bank and the then Dena Bank. Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank have now been merged with Bank of Baroda. After registration of this case, CBI has conducted searches at the residence of Anil Ambani and the registered offices of M/s Reliance Communication Ltd. Various documents connected with loan transactions have been recovered," the CBI's statement further stated.
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