ED makes first arrest in ₹3,000 cr Reliance Group loan fraud case
Mumbai: In its first arrest related to the alleged ₹3,000 crore loan fraud involving companies of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken Partha Sarathi Biswal, managing director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd, into custody for submitting fake bank guarantees worth ₹68.2 crore, sources said on Saturday, NDTV reported.
The forged guarantees were reportedly arranged on behalf of Reliance Power, and submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India, investigators said.
The ED alleged that Biswal Tradelink, which was incorporated in 2019, fabricated email confirmations using a spoofed domain—‘s-bi.co.in’—closely resembling the official SBI domain (sbi.co.in).
Biswal was arrested on Friday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, and was remanded to ED custody until Wednesday by a special court.
The ED found that Biswal Tradelink fraudulently received ₹5.4 crore from Reliance Power for arranging the fake guarantees.
The company is also accused of operating at least seven undisclosed bank accounts, using dummy directors, and failing to maintain mandatory business records.
The arrest comes just a day after a lookout circular was issued against Anil Ambani in the same case.
The ED is probing alleged diversion of ₹3,000 crore in loans granted by YES Bank to various Reliance Group firms between 2017 and 2019.
Officials have reportedly uncovered evidence of payments to YES Bank promoters prior to loan disbursal, suggesting a possible quid pro quo arrangement.
As part of the investigation, the agency conducted raids at over 50 entities beginning July 24, continuing over at least three days. The searches were carried out under the PMLA.
In a filing to the stock exchanges, Reliance Power distanced itself from the case, stating:
“The media reports appear to pertain to allegations concerning transactions of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) or Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL), which are over 10 years old.”
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