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

Key Points:

Anil Ambani once led the second-largest telecom company in India. No one could have known that he would later face allegations regarding large-scale financial frauds. The story covers the rapid growth, aggressive borrowing, and the fallout in the corporate sector of India.

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADA Group) was led by Anil Ambani. It included Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure, and Reliance Power. They stood strong, especially Reliance Communications, in the mid-2000s, becoming one of India’s top telecom players after its 2006 IPO.

The margins drastically dropped once Reliance Jio was established, owing to which Reliance Communications took out loans of approximately ₹40,000 crore from various banks. The company then filed for bankruptcy by 2019, taking down all the money with it.

See Also: ED Arrests Reliance Power CFO Ashok Pal Over ₹68 Crore Fake Bank Guarantee in SECI Tender Case

The State Bank of India (SBI) declared the company and Anil Ambani as frauds in July 2025, citing suspected forgery in the loan documents. It was also reported that he had transferred the loan amount to a different account. The matter was reported to the Reserve Bank of India, and a case was registered against Anil Ambani and his company.

This led to a series of raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at several of his companies and residences. Following the incidents, the Bank of Baroda also labelled RCom as a fraud, indicating a broad concern. The Bombay High Court also dismissed Ambani’s petition where he challenged SBI’s fraud classification at the same time.

Amidst all this, Anil Ambani’s name got connected with the Yes Bank scandal. The scandal involved the CEO of Yes Bank, Rana Kapoor, who reportedly gave away loans worth crores to companies that were on the verge of bankruptcy. He reportedly took bribes to do so. These loans were a part of a quid pro quo arrangement, as per the CBI’s investigation. The bank faced an estimated loss of about ₹2,800 crore due to these loans.

As a result, Anil Ambani and his associates were banned from the market for five years along with a fine amounting to ₹25 crore in August 2025 by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). They even found diverted funds and extended loans related to Home Finance and other group firms. SEBI also rejected the settlement plea put forth by Anil Ambani in a separate case involving Yes Bank bonds, citing a loss of over ₹1,800 crore to investors.

Anil Ambani declared his net worth as zero in the UK court to escape from paying back the loans taken from foreign banks. The incident brought his financial situation into the public eye in 2020. The raids and cases by the ED and CBI respectively in 2025 are a constant effort to trace the money back and determine accountability behind the loss.

The investigations show a huge amount of ₹17,000 crore being involved in the fraud from multiple cases of loan defaults, fund diversions, and investor losses. The raids led to a sharp fall in the shares of Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure, severely impacting the empire headed by Anil Ambani. The companies are now under heavy debt.

The case has sparked debates across various topics like corporate finances and accountability. It highlights that mismanagement in business leads not only to business setbacks but also to criminal cases. The case is still being investigated, with the total losses yet to be fully assessed.

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