ED arrests Reliance Power CFO in 'fake' bank guarantee-linked PMLA case
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested the CFO of industrialist Anil Ambani's group company Reliance Power in a money laundering case linked to issuance of an alleged fake bank guarantee of Rs 68 crore, official sources said on Saturday.
Ashok Pal was taken into custody on Friday night under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after he was questioned by the agency, they said.
He will be produced before a special court on Saturday and the agency will seek his remand for custodial interrogation, according to the sources.
The case pertains to a bank guarantee of Rs 68.2 crore submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power, which was found to be "fake".
The company was formerly known as Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited.
The accused company, which allegedly operated a racket for providing "fake" bank guarantees for business groups, was identified by the ED as Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink.
As part of the investigation, the ED carried out searches against the company and its promoters in August and arrested its Managing Director, Partha Sarathi Biswal.
The money laundering case stems from a November 2024 FIR of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW). It was alleged that the company was engaged in issuing "fake" bank guarantees against a commission of 8 per cent.
The Reliance Group had then said that Reliance Power had been a "victim of fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy" in this case and it had made due disclosures in this context to the stock exchange on November 7, 2024.
A group spokesperson said a criminal complaint was lodged by them against the third party (accused company) with Delhi Police's EOW in October 2024 and the "due process" of law would follow.
The ED sources had said that the Bhubaneswar-based company was using an email domain -- s-bi.co.in -- similar to sbi.co.in to create a "facade" of genuineness that the communication was being sent by the State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender.
The fake domain was used to send "forged" communication to the SECI, they said.
The ED's preliminary investigation, according to the sources, indicated that the company also facilitated "fake" bills for commission and used multiple "undisclosed" bank accounts.
Suspicious transactions worth crores of rupees were done through these bank accounts, they said.
The company is a "mere paper entity" as its registered office is a residential property belonging to a relative of Biswal. No company records were found at the address during the searches, the sources had said.
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Man dies by suicide after being 'duped of ₹1.5 crore' in stock market scam
Jaipur (PTI): A 42-year-old man allegedly died by suicide after jumping in front of a Sikar-Rewari passenger train in Jhunjhunu district on Saturday morning, officials said.
Police launched a probe into allegations in a three-page suicide note in which the deceased allegedly blamed several individuals for his death, accusing them of cheating his family out of around Rs 1.5 crore through stock market investment.
The deceased cited mounting debts and alleged harassment by creditors as reasons that drove him to take the extreme step.
Kotwali police head constable Mahendra Singh said the deceased, Vimal Kumar Sharma, was identified using a mobile phone recovered from the spot near the New Housing Board police line crossing.
"We contacted numbers stored in the phone, which helped establish his identity. A suicide note was also found in the deceased's pocket," he said, adding that Sharma was engaged in share market trading.
In the suicide note, Sharma alleged that despite lodging a complaint at the Kotwali police station, police conducted no proper investigation and closed the case file without inquiry.
He claimed to possess evidence such as call recordings, a pen drive and bank statements.
Meanwhile, family members reached the hospital and demanded the arrest of the accused persons named in the suicide note, refusing to accept the body until action is taken.
Police said an investigation is underway.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the state’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416.)
