CBI Nabs Ex-MD of Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications in Bank Fraud Case

CBI has arrested Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, former Group MD of the Anil Ambnai led-Reliance Communications Group in connection with an alleged bank fraud case related to the Reliance-ADAG group.

A Mumbai court granted the agency permission to formally arrest him on Monday, according to news agency PTI.

Jhunjhunwala was produced before Special CBI Judge J P Darekar on a production warrant from Tihar Central Jail in New Delhi, where he was already under judicial custody in a related money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The CBI, represented by Special Public Prosecutor A Limosin, filed an application seeking remand and permission to formally arrest the accused.

Jhunjhunwala's lawyers, Advocates Reeti Upadhyay and Mudit Jain, contested the timing of his appearance, arguing that as per the production warrant issued by a Delhi court, he was required to be produced before the court only on June 5. His production prior to that date was illegal, the defence contended, according to PTI.

After hearing both sides, the court allowed the CBI's application. As proceedings extended beyond working hours, the agency informed the court that the accused would be produced before it on Tuesday after completing arrest formalities. The court remanded Jhunjhunwala to judicial custody, citing the late hour and the accused's travel distance from Delhi.

Role of the Accused

Jhunjhunwala served as Group Managing Director of RCom and oversaw corporate finance, banking operations and fund utilisation at the company. The CBI alleged that loan funds received from banks were managed and utilised by other company officials on his directions, causing wrongful losses to the lending banks.

Notably, on Friday, the CBI filed a chargesheet against 16 individuals and entities, including Reliance Communications, five senior company executives, and ten bank officials. Jhunjhunwala was not named in the chargesheet, though the agency stated that investigation against him remained ongoing.

The chargesheet relates to the alleged misuse of a ₹1,200 crore term loan sanctioned by SBI, ₹500 crore in letter of credit facilities from Bank of Maharashtra, and ₹350 crore in letter of credit facilities from Syndicate Bank.

The CBI had registered the case on a complaint filed by SBI against Anil Ambani and Reliance Communications for allegedly causing a loss of ₹2,929.05 crore to the bank.

As per the FIR, a consortium of 11 banks led by SBI had sanctioned "Rupee Term Loans" to RCom, with a total exposure of ₹19,694.33 crore involving 17 state-run banks.

The agency reportedly stated that further investigation remains open to examine other loans and identify additional individuals involved in the alleged diversion of public funds.