ED Arrests Ex-Reliance Communications Director Punit Garg in Bank Fraud Case, Attaches ₹1,885 Crore in Assets to Anil Ambani Group Under Money Laundering Investigation

Key Points

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), on 28 January 2026, provisionally attached properties worth ₹1,885 crore to the Reliance Anil Ambani Group as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation into alleged bank fraud and diversion of public funds. Then, on 29 January 2026, the ED also arrested Punit Garg, former director at Reliance Communications (RCom), in connection with the bank fraud case.

ED Attaches Assets Worth ₹1,885 Crore to Anil Ambani Group

The current attachments were made through four separate provisional orders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in cases involving Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL), Yes Bank exposures, and Reliance Communications Limited (RCom). According to the agency, the attached assets include bank balances, receivables, shareholding in unquoted investments, and immovable properties.

The ED said the attached shareholdings relate to Reliance Infrastructure Limited’s stakes in BSES Yamuna Power Limited, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, and Mumbai Metro One Private Limited. It also attached ₹148 crore in bank balances and receivables worth ₹143 crore held by Value Corp Finance and Securities Limited. A residential house in the name of Angarai Sethuraman, described as a senior employee of the Reliance Group, and movable assets in the form of shares and mutual funds linked to Punit Garg were also attached.

The agency recalled that it had earlier attached properties worth over ₹10,117 crore in related bank fraud cases involving RCom, RCFL, and RHFL. With the latest action, cumulative attachments in these cases have reached about ₹12,000 crore.

The ED alleged fraudulent diversion of public money by several group companies, including RCom, RHFL, RCFL, Reliance Infrastructure, and Reliance Power. It said that during 2017–19, Yes Bank invested ₹2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and ₹2,045 crore in RCFL instruments. By December 2019, these investments had turned non-performing, with outstanding amounts of ₹1,353.50 crore for RHFL and ₹1,984 crore for RCFL.

According to the ED, RHFL and RCFL together received public funds exceeding ₹11,000 crore. The agency alleged that before Yes Bank invested in these companies, it had received substantial funds from the erstwhile Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund. Under SEBI regulations, the mutual fund could not directly invest in Anil Ambani group finance companies due to conflict-of-interest rules. The ED claimed that funds from mutual fund schemes were therefore routed indirectly through Yes Bank’s exposures, describing the route as “circuitous”.

See Also: Anil Ambani ₹17,000 Crore Fraud Case: ED Raids, SEBI Ban, and Reliance Communications Collapse

ED Arrests Ex-RCom Director Punit Garg

In a related development, the ED’s Special Task Force arrested Punit Garg, former Director of Reliance Communications, on 29 January 2026 under the PMLA. The arrest follows a money laundering investigation linked to a CBI FIR alleging bank fraud of over ₹40,000 crore involving RCom, Anil Ambani and others.

Garg, who held senior managerial and directorial roles in RCom between 2001 and 2025, is accused of involvement in the acquisition, concealment, layering and dissipation of proceeds of crime. The ED alleged that proceeds were diverted through foreign subsidiaries and offshore entities, including for the purchase of a luxury condominium apartment in Manhattan, New York.

The agency said this property was sold during the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process of RCom and that sale proceeds of $8.3 million were remitted from the United States under the guise of a sham investment arrangement with a Dubai-based entity controlled by a Pakistan-linked individual, without the knowledge or consent of the Resolution Professional. It further alleged that part of the diverted loan funds was used for Garg’s personal expenses, including overseas education-related payments for his children.

Garg was produced before a Special PMLA Court in New Delhi, which granted the ED nine days of custodial remand for further investigation to trace remaining proceeds of crime and identify other beneficiaries. The agency said further investigation is ongoing.

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