Is the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Involved in a Rs. 28,874 Crore Fraud?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Cobrapost alleges a massive fraud by the ADA Group.
- Claims of Rs. 28,874 crore misappropriation since 2006.
- Involvement of offshore entities and money laundering
- Response from the Reliance Group condemning the allegations.
- Legal implications under various acts including PMLA and SEBI.
New Delhi, Oct 30 (NationPress) The investigative news portal Cobrapost has claimed that the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has been engaging in a colossal banking fraud exceeding Rs. 28,874 crore since 2006 without any repercussions.
The report from Cobrapost suggests that this fraud involves the misappropriation of funds acquired through bank loans, IPOs, and bonds from listed companies within the ADA Group.
Additionally, approximately $1,535 million raised internationally was allegedly funneled into India through questionable methods. This includes $750 million that a mysterious benefactor company, NexGen Capital, provided to Emerging Market Investments & Trading Pte (EMITS) in Singapore during a temporary custody arrangement with Reliance Innoventures, the ADA Group's holding entity, as per Cobrapost's investigation.
“The entire amount of $750 million was transferred to India and seemingly vanished, along with the subsidiaries that facilitated the fund diversion to Reliance Innoventures, which could potentially be classified as money laundering. Similarly, $785 million raised through external commercial borrowings was channeled into various ADA Group companies, bringing the total to US$ 1,535 million,” alleges the Cobrapost report.
The Reliance ADA Group has countered this report, labeling Cobrapost’s revelations as a “malicious and agenda-driven campaign,” asserting that the media platform's “so-called expose” is a calculated effort to tarnish the company's reputation and mislead stakeholders. The company, led by Anil Ambani, claimed that “Cobrapost has been inactive since 2019, and its resurgence is entirely financed by entities with vested interests in acquiring Reliance Group assets.”
Furthermore, the Cobrapost report claims that ADA Group companies and their key executives have perpetrated this fraud in blatant violation of several laws, including the Companies Act of 2013, Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Act, and the Income Tax Act.
“The total amount of US$1,535 million diverted equates to Rs 13,047.50 crore at an average exchange rate of Rs 85 to one dollar. Cumulatively, the amounts involved exceed Rs 41,921.57 crore,” states the Cobrapost report.
Cobrapost claims to have identified 26 offshore entities that are among the beneficiary companies, some of which received funds from ADAG shell companies. The locations of at least 14 of these 26 offshore shell entities have been uncovered.
According to Cobrapost, their investigation is grounded in a comprehensive analysis of numerous official and public third-party sources. These sources include statutory orders, regulatory filings, and documents from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, SEBI, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), and the Reserve Bank of India; as well as court rulings and documents filed in foreign jurisdictions.
“We have exercised utmost diligence in extracting, compiling, interpreting, and verifying data from all available sources,” the report concludes.