ED Arrests Key Suspect in ₹68 Crore Fake Bank Guarantee Case Linked to Reliance Power
Reliance Power fraud escalates with fresh arrest and sweeping MCA probe.
The Enforcement Directorate made a dramatic arrest Thursday, nabbing Kolkata-based consultant Amar Nath Dutta, the third key suspect in a Rs 68 crore fake bank guarantee scandal tied to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Power. Dutta allegedly collaborated with former CFO Ashok Kumar Pal and shell company MD Partha Sarathi Biswal to forge documents, enabling subsidiary Reliance NU BESS to secure a massive 1,000 MW battery storage contract from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
ED officials revealed the scam inflicted over Rs 100 crore in public losses, achieved through counterfeit SFMS confirmations and a bogus guarantee supposedly issued by a non-existent branch of FirstRand Bank in Manila. The investigation, triggered by a Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing FIR, is now a full PMLA case, with agents tracing illicit funds and probing potential insider roles within the company.
Reliance Power has repeatedly claimed victim status, asserting it promptly reported the fraud to authorities upon discovery and cooperated fully. However, the company’s defense has done little to stem plunging stock prices, ongoing lender lawsuits, and a deepening credibility crisis that has gripped the debt-ridden conglomerate for months.
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The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has escalated the pressure by assigning the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to probe alleged fund diversion across multiple Reliance Group entities. Investigators are examining billions in suspicious inter-company transactions, offshore transfers, and governance lapses that may have violated the Companies Act.
With ED freezing Rs 7,500 crore in prime assets, including Mumbai real estate and Navi Mumbai land parcels, and more raids on the horizon, Anil Ambani’s once-mighty empire teeters on the edge. This twin assault by ED and SFIO signals a new era of accountability, leaving corporate India watching in stunned silence.
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