The ED arrested Ashok Pal, Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power Ltd., in a money laundering case linked to an alleged fake bank guarantee worth ₹68 crore.
A special court later granted the agency two days of custody, with the next date set for Monday, 13 October 2025.
The ED maintains that Pal’s actions contributed to the “diversion of funds” from a publicly listed company.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Ashok Pal, Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power Limited, in a money laundering case linked to an alleged fake bank guarantee worth ₹68 crore. The arrest took place in Delhi on Friday, 10 October 2025, after hours of questioning under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A special court later granted the agency two days of custody, directing that Pal be produced again on Monday.
According to the agency, the case involves a forged bank guarantee submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power. The guarantee, valued at ₹68.2 crore, was allegedly fabricated and used to support bids for SECI’s Battery Energy Storage System tenders. The ED has accused Pal of playing a central role in the planning, execution, and concealment of the fake bank guarantee, claiming that he facilitated its submission “with an intent to cheat.”
Investigators allege that Pal, acting under a board resolution empowering him to execute documents for SECI tenders, oversaw the use of Reliance Power’s financial capability to secure the contract. The agency claims that the fake guarantee was arranged through Biswal Tradelink Pvt. Ltd. (BTPL), a small Odisha-based firm operating from a residential address. BTPL, according to the ED, had no credible record of providing such guarantees.
ED sources said the company issued the guarantee on behalf of Reliance NU BESS and later used fake and spoofed domains to make it appear genuine. These included lookalike domains of Indian banks such as “lndianbank.in,” “pnblndia.in,” and “unionbankoflndia.co.in,” which substituted letters to visually mimic authentic bank addresses. One of the forged documents purportedly claimed to originate from “FirstRand Bank, Manila, Philippines,” though no such branch exists.
The investigation has also revealed that BTPL’s Managing Director, Partha Sarathi Biswal, was already in judicial custody. Biswal was accused of running a fake bank guarantee racket and issuing bogus instruments for a commission. Officials said he used encrypted channels such as Telegram and WhatsApp to communicate and approve paperwork outside formal systems. The ED has described BTPL as a “paper entity” with no verifiable operations or office records, asserting that the firm’s registered address belonged to one of Biswal’s relatives.
The Enforcement Directorate maintains that Pal’s actions contributed to the “diversion of funds” from a publicly listed company. According to its findings, the Reliance Power executive coordinated with BTPL to facilitate payments through fake invoices and managed the paperwork used to create the forged documents. The agency has identified a pattern of financial transactions indicating that the fake guarantee was part of a larger conspiracy involving fraudulent banking channels.
The ED’s money laundering case stems from a November 2024 FIR filed by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which first uncovered the use of counterfeit bank guarantees issued by BTPL for multiple corporate clients. The FIR alleged that the firm charged commissions as high as eight percent to arrange forged documents for bidding processes. In August, the ED had conducted searches at the company’s premises and arrested Biswal, marking the beginning of the current probe that led to Pal’s detention.
Sources said the forged communication to SECI was sent through an email domain “s-bi.co.in,” crafted to appear as the official State Bank of India domain “sbi.co.in.” This was allegedly used to pass off the fraudulent guarantee as genuine. Investigators also traced multiple undisclosed bank accounts used by the accused entities to channel payments and create fake billing trails amounting to several crores.
In a statement to stock exchanges, Reliance Power Limited said that it and its subsidiaries were victims of “fraud, forgery, and cheating conspiracy” perpetrated by third parties. The company clarified that it had lodged a criminal complaint with Delhi Police’s EOW in October 2024, prior to the ED’s probe, after discovering that the guarantee submitted against its earnest money deposit (EMD) had been forged. Based on the complaint, the EOW registered a case on 11 November 2024.
Following Pal’s arrest, Reliance Power informed exchanges that he had stepped down from his position as Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer “with immediate effect” to assist the investigation. The company reiterated that it continues to cooperate with authorities. “We also wish to clarify,” it said, “that Mr. Anil D. Ambani has not been on the Board of Reliance Power Limited for more than 3.5 years and is not concerned with this matter in any manner.”
The company added that it would take all legally advised steps in response to the ongoing investigation.
The case adds to a series of legal challenges confronting companies associated with the Reliance Group. While the ED continues to examine the alleged use of fake guarantees and diversion of funds, Reliance Power has maintained that it acted in good faith and was itself defrauded by external entities.
Ashok Pal remains in ED custody for custodial interrogation, with the next hearing scheduled before the designated court on Monday. Officials said further questioning will focus on tracing the money trail and identifying whether similar forged instruments were used in other tenders.
As investigations deepen, the case is expected to shed light on the use of forged bank guarantees in corporate contracts — a practice authorities say has exposed vulnerabilities in verification systems used by both private firms and government agencies. [Rh/Eth/DS]
