The Enforcement Directorate’s action against Anil Ambani and his group has intensified. The agency has provisionally seized more than 18 properties, fixed deposits, bank balances, shareholdings, and unquoted investments worth Rs 1,120 crore belonging to various companies of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group in connection with the Yes Bank fraud case.

The properties seized include 7 assets of Reliance Infrastructure Limited, 2 properties of Reliance Power Limited, and 9 assets of Reliance Value Services Private Limited. In addition, fixed deposits held in the names of Reliance Value Services Private Limited, Reliance Venture Asset Management Private Limited, Fee Management Solutions Private Limited, Aadhar Property Consultancy Private Limited, and Gamesa Investment Management Private Limited have also been attached. The ED further seized unquoted investments made through Reliance Venture Asset Management Private Limited and Fee Management Solutions Private Limited.

Action taken earlier
The ED had earlier seized assets worth over Rs 50 crore. Fraud cases linked to Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL), and Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) amount to Rs 8,997 crore. With the latest attachment, the total value of seized assets from the Reliance Anil Ambani Group has now reached Rs 10,117 crore.

According to the agency, multiple group companies—including RCOM, RHFL, RCFL, Reliance Infrastructure Limited, and Reliance Power Limited—misused public funds at a large scale.

When did the case begin?
Between 2017 and 2019, Yes Bank invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL instruments. By December 2019, these investments had turned non-performing. The outstanding amounts were Rs 1,353.50 crore for RHFL and Rs 1,984 crore for RCFL.

The ED investigation revealed that RHFL and RCFL received more than Rs 11,000 crore in public money. Before Yes Bank invested in these entities, it had received substantial funds from the erstwhile Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund. Under SEBI regulations, Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund could not directly invest in Anil Ambani Group finance companies due to conflict-of-interest rules. As a result, funds were routed indirectly through mutual fund schemes and ultimately channelled to Anil Ambani Group companies via Yes Bank’s exposure.

The ED is also probing the matter based on a CBI FIR filed against RCom, Anil Ambani, and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. A total outstanding amount of Rs 40,185 crore is involved, and nine banks have declared the group’s loan accounts as fraudulent.

The allegations
According to the ED, loans taken from one bank by an entity were used by other group entities to repay different loans, transfer funds to related parties, or invest in mutual funds—activities that violated the loan sanction terms. The investigation found that RCOM and its group companies diverted over Rs 13,600 crore for evergreening loans, more than Rs 12,600 crore was transferred to connected entities, and over Rs 1,800 crore was invested in fixed deposits and mutual funds, many of which were later liquidated and funnelled back to group companies. The agency also uncovered widespread misuse of bill discounting to divert funds to related parties.