Ashok Kumar Pal, Reliance Power CFO and aide to Anil Ambani, arrested by ED under PMLA
Alleged involvement in a ₹68 crore fake bank guarantee submitted to SECI
Used spoofed bank email domains to pass fraudulent guarantees as genuine
Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani’s aide and senior Reliance Power Limited officer, Ashok Kumar Pal, was arrested on Saturday in connection with a money laundering case linked to a fraudulent bank guarantee, according to media reports. The enforcement directorate (ED) took him into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Officials stated that Pal, who has served as chief financial officer at Reliance Power for more than seven years, submitted a fraudulent bank guarantee worth over ₹68 crore to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a PSU under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Pal reportedly created spoofed email domains mimicking major banks, including addresses such as ‘sbi.17313@s-bi.co.in’, ‘Indiabank.in’, ‘IndusIndbank.in’, ‘pnbIndia.in’, ‘psdbank.co.in’, ‘siliguripnb’, ‘lobbank.co.in’, and ‘unionbankofIndia’.co.in’, using minor textual alterations or single-character changes to deceive recipients.
The probe agency stated that Pal used to approve releases and facilitate paperwork via Telegram or WhatsApp. The investigation further revealed that Reliance Power had presented a bank guarantee purportedly issued by FirstRand Bank in Manila, Philippines, though no such branch exists in the country.
The report added that Biswal Tradelink, an Odisha-based small entity operating from a residential address, is a key player in the alleged scam. Investigations indicated that the company existed only on paper, with no statutory records found at its registered location.
The Bombay High Court has recently dismissed a petition filed by industrialist Anil Ambani challenging the State Bank of India's (SBI) decision classifying his and Reliance Communications' accounts as fraud.
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale said there was no merit in the plea. A detailed copy of the judgement was not available immediately.
The SBI had last year classified the accounts as fraud, alleging misappropriation of funds by entering into transactions that violated the terms of loans extended by it. Ambani moved the HC, arguing that the bank had not followed the principles of natural justice as it did not grant him a hearing.
Certain documents, based on which the classification orders were passed, were not provided to him initially, and furnished only after six months, the petition claimed.
The bank this year lodged a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which searched premises linked to Reliance Communications and Ambani's residence.
The CBI said it had registered a complaint after the State Bank of India claimed a loss of ₹2,929.05 crore resulting from alleged misappropriation by Reliance Communications and Anil Ambani.
