New Delhi, Dec 6 (NationPress) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced on Saturday that it has submitted a supplementary chargesheet against Reliance Power Ltd and ten other individuals and entities over the fraudulent bank guarantees amounting to Rs 68 crore. These guarantees were presented by Reliance Power Limited to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in an attempt to secure a tender issued by SECI.

The chargesheet includes names such as Partha Sarathi Biswal, Biswal Tradelink Private Limited, Biothane Chemicals Private Limited, Amar Nath Dutta, Ravinder Pal Singh Chadha, Reliance NU BESS Limited, Rosa Power Supply Company Limited, Manoj Bhaiyasaheb Pongde, Reliance Power Limited, Ashok Kumar Pal, and Punit Narendra Garg.

Prior to this chargesheet, the ED also placed a provisional attachment on proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 5.15 crore.

In a statement, Reliance Power Ltd noted that “in previous disclosures dated November 7, 2024, and November 14, 2024, we communicated that Reliance NU BESS Limited had filed a criminal complaint regarding this issue against third parties responsible for arranging the bank guarantee, with the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police on October 16, 2024, which led to a First Information Report (FIR) being registered on November 11, 2024.”

The statement further asserted, “Reliance Power Limited, along with its subsidiaries and employees, acted in good faith and are victims of fraud, forgery, cheating, and conspiracy orchestrated by third parties. The ED's investigation was initiated based on this FIR.”

“The allegations of the ED have not been subjected to judicial examination, and the company has not been found guilty of any misconduct. According to established law by the Supreme Court, the company will be allowed to present its case and facts before the court, even prior to cognizance, hence the filing of this complaint does not impact the company's operations,” the company stated in an exchange filing.

The company pledged to take necessary legal actions to protect its interests and those of all stakeholders while maintaining its innocence and that of its officials concerning any wrongdoing.

As per the ED, “Officials from the Reliance Group were aware that a fraudulent Bank Guarantee and its forged endorsements were being submitted to SECI from a spoofed SBI email ID. When SECI detected the fraud, the Reliance Group arranged a legitimate Bank Guarantee from IDBI Bank within a day of SECI's fraud notification. However, SECI declined to accept the new Bank Guarantee due to its late submission.”

The financial regulator commenced its investigation based on FIRs lodged by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police against Reliance NU BESS Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Power, following a complaint from SECI, along with another FIR filed by Reliance NU BESS Ltd against BTPL and its MD Biswal,” an ED spokesperson stated.

The investigation has revealed “collusion and malicious intent by the Reliance Group to secure the SECI tender through the submission of fake Bank Guarantees allegedly issued by foreign banks along with their forged endorsements in the name of SBI,” the ED noted.

On Friday, the ED disclosed that it has provisionally attached properties and assets belonging to Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group worth Rs 10,117 crore to date.

The recent actions involved the attachment of over 18 properties, fixed deposits, bank balances, and shareholdings in unquoted investments from Reliance Anil Ambani Group, totaling Rs 1,120 crore in the Yes Bank Fraud Case.

The attached assets include seven properties from Reliance Infrastructure Limited, two from Reliance Power Limited, and nine from Reliance Value Service Private Limited.

In individual statements, Reliance Infrastructure Limited and Reliance Power affirmed that they continue to operate normally, fully committed to growth, operational excellence, and sustainable value creation for all stakeholders.