Central Bank of India Seizes Two Senior Executives From Reliance Communications in Alleged Bank Fraud Investigation
CBI Arrests Two Senior Executives of Reliance Communications in Alleged Bank Fraud Case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday announced the arrest of two senior executives of Reliance Communications (RCOM), a company part of the Anil Ambani group. Anil Kalya and D Vishwanath, who were managing corporate finance, banking operations, and payments/utilization of funds at RCOM, were taken into custody in connection with an alleged bank fraud case.
According to the CBI, the two executives were arrested in a case registered on a complaint filed by the State Bank of India (SBI). The bank alleged that it suffered a wrongful loss of around ₹2,929.05 crore due to the "fraudulent" activities of the accused borrowers. The CBI has also alleged that RCOM entered into "circuitous" transactions through "shell" entities controlled by company officials, resulting in huge losses for the banks.
The probe agency said that Vishwanath was in overall charge of the group's banking operations and directed the "misutilization" of funds. Kalya "actively" supported Vishwanath in this regard, and both were "important" RCOM functionaries managing corporate finance, banking operations, payments, and fund utilization.
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| Bank | Loss (₹ crore) |
|---|---|
| State Bank of India | 2,929.05 |
| Total Loss | 19,694 |
The CBI has alleged that a wrongful loss of ₹19,694 crore was caused to 17 public sector banks and financial institutions. The agency is in the process of registering separate cases related to each bank's losses.
It is worth noting that Reliance Communications has been undergoing the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) since 2019 under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016. The company has remained in the resolution process for nearly seven years, with proceedings still pending in 2026. Anil D Ambani served as a non-executive director on the board of RCOM and stepped down from this position in 2019. He was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the company.
The CBI has registered seven cases against the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group based on complaints lodged by various public sector banks and the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for alleged fraud totalling thousands of crores of rupees.
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Investor Takeaway
Investors should be cautious of potential bank fraud cases and their impact on the banking sector.
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