ED Arrests Reliance Power CFO In ₹68-Crore Fake Bank Guarantee Case
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Ashok Pal, Chief Financial Officer of industrialist Anil Ambani’s group company, Reliance Power, in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged fake bank guarantee worth ₹68 crore, official sources said on Saturday.
Pal was taken into custody on Friday night under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after being questioned by the agency. He will be produced before a special court on Saturday, where the ED is expected to seek his custodial remand, the sources added.
The case revolves around a ₹68.2 crore bank guarantee submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power. The guarantee was later found to be “fake.” The company, earlier known as Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited, had allegedly procured the document from Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink, identified by the ED as being involved in issuing fake bank guarantees for a commission of about 8%.
The agency had raided Biswal Tradelink and its promoters in August, arresting Managing Director Partha Sarathi Biswal. The probe is based on a November 2024 FIR filed by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW).
In its earlier statement, the Reliance Group said Reliance Power was a victim of fraud, forgery, and a cheating conspiracy, and had duly disclosed the matter to the stock exchanges on November 7, 2024. The group also filed a criminal complaint with the EOW in October 2024 against the accused company, assuring full cooperation with the investigation.
According to the ED, the Bhubaneswar-based firm used a fake email domain — s-bi.co.in — resembling SBI’s official domain (sbi.co.in) to mislead recipients into believing the communication was from the State Bank of India (SBI). This domain was allegedly used to send forged documents to SECI.
Preliminary findings suggest the company also generated fake commission bills, operated through multiple undisclosed bank accounts, and carried out suspicious transactions worth crores of rupees. Investigators further found that the company was a “paper entity”, with its registered office located at a relative’s residence, where no official records were discovered.
