The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Ashok Pal, Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power, in connection with a money laundering investigation involving an alleged fake bank guarantee worth Rs 68 crore. The arrest took place on Friday night following extensive questioning by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Pal was scheduled to be produced before a special court on Saturday, where the ED planned to seek his remand for further custodial interrogation. This latest development marks a significant escalation in the ongoing investigation into the Anil Ambani-led Reliance group of companies, which are being probed for their alleged involvement in multi-crore bank fraud cases.
The case centers around a bank guarantee of Rs 68.2 crore that was submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power. Previously known as Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited, the company's guarantee was later discovered to be fraudulent, triggering a comprehensive investigation by multiple agencies.
According to ED sources, the alleged fraud was orchestrated through an Odisha-based company called Biswal Tradelink, which operated a racket providing fake bank guarantees to various business groups in exchange for an 8 percent commission. The agency conducted searches at the company's premises and arrested its Managing Director, Partha Sarathi Biswal, in August this year.
The investigation revealed sophisticated methods used to perpetrate the fraud. The Bhubaneswar-based company allegedly created an email domain, s-bi.co.in, designed to closely resemble the official State Bank of India domain, sbi.co.in. This clever deception created an appearance of legitimacy, making it seem as though communications were genuinely coming from India's largest public sector bank. These forged communications were then sent to SECI to validate the fake bank guarantees.
The money laundering case originated from a First Information Report filed by the Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing in November 2024. Police investigations alleged that the company was systematically engaged in issuing fraudulent bank guarantees across multiple business transactions.
In response to the allegations, the Reliance Group issued a statement asserting that Reliance Power had been a victim of fraud, forgery, and a cheating conspiracy. The group's spokesperson emphasized that they had filed a criminal complaint against the third-party company with Delhi Police in October 2024 and had made proper disclosures to the stock exchange on November 7, 2024. The company maintained that it was cooperating fully with law enforcement and that due legal process would be followed.
The ED's preliminary investigation has uncovered additional concerning details about Biswal Tradelink's operations. The agency discovered that the company facilitated fake bills for commission purposes and maintained multiple undisclosed bank accounts through which suspicious transactions worth crores of rupees were conducted. Investigators found that the company operated as a mere paper entity, with its registered office being a residential property owned by a relative of Biswal. During searches, no legitimate company records were found at the registered address.
This arrest represents another chapter in the ongoing scrutiny of the Anil Ambani business empire, which has faced multiple investigations and legal challenges in recent years. The case highlights the sophisticated nature of financial fraud in corporate India and the challenges faced by regulatory authorities in detecting and preventing such schemes.
As the investigation continues, authorities are expected to probe deeper into the network of companies and individuals involved in this alleged fraud, potentially leading to more arrests and revelations in the coming weeks.
