SBI to tag RCom loan account as 'fraud', names Anil Ambani in report to RBI
New Delhi, Jul 2 (PTI): State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to classify the loan account of beleaguered telecom firm Reliance Communications as "fraud" and to report the name of its erstwhile director -- Anil Ambani to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The move is expected to be followed by other lenders who have given loans to Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom).
Reliance Communications in a regulatory filing said that it has received a letter dated June 23, 2025 from the State Bank of India (SBI) to this effect.
SBI has decided to report the loan account of the company as 'fraud' and to report the name of Anil Ambani (erstwhile director of the company) to the RBI, as per the extant RBI guidelines, it said.
As per the RBI guidelines, after a bank classifies an account as 'fraud', the lender should then report the fraud to RBI within 21 days of detection and also report the case to CBI/Police.
According to the filing, Reliance Communications and its subsidiaries received a total loan of Rs 31,580 crore from banks.
SBI in the letter sent to RCom said, it has found deviation in utilization of the loans involving complex web of fund movements across multiple group entities.
"We have taken cognizance of the responses to our Show Cause Notice and after due examination of the same it is concluded that sufficient reasons have not been provided by the respondent, to explain the non-adherence to the agreed terms and conditions of the loan documents or the irregularities observed in the conduct of the account of RCL to the satisfaction of the bank," it said.
Accordingly, the letter said, the Fraud Identification Committee of the bank has decided to classify the loan account of RCL as fraud.
As per the RBI guidelines, the penal provisions are applicable to the fraudulent borrower including the promoter director and other whole-time directors of the company.
In particular, borrowers who have defaulted and have also committed a fraud in the account would be debarred from availing finance from banks, Development Financial Institutions, government owned NBFCs, etc, for a period of five years from the date of full payment of the defrauded amount.
After this period, it is for individual institutions to take a call on whether to lend to such a borrower and no restructuring or grant of additional facilities may be made in the case of fraud accounts.
As per the report of the Fraud Identification Committee out of the total loan, Rs 13,667.73 crore, about 44 per cent, was utilized for the repayment of loans and other obligations.
An amount of Rs 12,692.31 crore, 41 per cent of total loan, was utilized to pay connected parties.
According to the filing, Rs 6,265.85 crore was used for repaying other bank loans and Rs 5,501.56 crore was paid to related or connected parties which were not aligned with sanctioned purposes.
Further, a Rs 250-crore loan from Dena Bank (meant for statutory dues) was not utilized as per the sanctioned use. The loan was diverted to RCom Group company Reliance Communications Infrastructure Ltd (RCIL) as an Inter-Corporate Deposit (ICD) and was later claimed to repay an External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) loan.
The committee found that a loan of Rs 248 crore was sanctioned by IIFCL for meeting capital expenditure but RCom paid Rs 63 crore to Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL) and Rs 77 crore to RIEL for repayment of loans.
"But instead of transferring the fund directly to these companies it was routed through RCIL, reason for that has not been given by management or by Anil Ambani. These (Dena Bank and IIFCL loan use) appear to be misappropriation of funds and breach of trust," the report said.
The committee observed potential routing of bank loans by RCom Group including mobile tower firm Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL) telecom service company Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL), Reliance Communications Infrastructure Ltd (RCIL), Netizen, Reliance Webstore (RWSL) etc.
The report said RCom, RITL, and RTL engaged in ICD (inter-corporate deposit) transactions totaling Rs 41,863.32 crore of which only Rs 28,421.61 crore was traceable.
RCom used a Rs 100-crore intraday limit to cycle funds through group entities including RWSL, RTL, RCIL multiple times in a single day.
"These transactions do not appear to be genuine or conducted in a normal course of business. It appears that RCom has utilized intra-day limits to finance RWSL to pay collection proceeds worth Rs 1,110 crore.
"As a result, debtors of RTL got reduced by that extent... transactions can be termed as manipulation of books of accounts through fictitious accounts," the report said.
The committee raised a question on funds transactions involving Netizens as "an attempt of diversion of funds by manipulation of books of accounts through fictitious account/fictitious entries."
It is to be noted that RCom is under corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) pursuant to the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
With effect from June 28, 2019, its affairs, business and assets are being managed by, and the powers of the board of directors are vested in, the Resolution Professional, Anish Niranjan Nanavaty, appointed by National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai Bench, order dated June 21, 2019.
The credit facilities or loans referred to in the letter from SBI dated June 23, 2025 pertain to the period prior to the CIRP of the company and are required in terms of the IBC, to be necessarily resolved as a part of a resolution plan or in liquidation, as the case may be.
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US warns shipping firms they could face sanctions over paying Iranian tolls in Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): The United States is warning shipping companies that they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The alert posted Friday by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control adds another layer of pressure in the standoff between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
About a fifth of the world's trade in oil and natural gas typically passes through the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in peacetime.
Iran effectively closed the strait to normal traffic by attacking and threatening to attack ships after the US and Israel launched a war on Feb. 28. It later began offering some ships safe passage by detouring them through alternate routes closer to its shoreline, charging fees at times for the service.
That "tollbooth” effort is the focus of the US sanctions warning.
The payment demands could include transfers not only in cash but also “digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments,” including chartibale donations and payments at Iranian embassies, OFAC said.
“OFAC is issuing this alert to warn US and non-US persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting guarantees from, the Iranian regime for safe passage. These risks exist regardless of payment method,” it said.
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The US responded to Iran's closure of the strait with a naval blockade of its own on April 13, preventing any Iranian tankers from leaving and depriving Iran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
The US Central Command said 45 commercial ships have been told to turn around since the blockade began.
Trump rejects Iranian proposal
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The warning came as US President Donald Trump swiftly rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war between the countries.
“They want to make a deal, I'm not satisfied with it, so we'll see what happens,” Trump said Friday at the White House. He didn't elaborate on what he saw as its shortcomings but expressed frustration with the Iranian leadership.
“It's a very disjointed leadership,” Trump said. “They all want to make a deal, but they're all messed up.”
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Iran handed over its plan to mediators in Pakistan on Thursday night.
The shaky three-week ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be holding, though both countries have traded accusations of violations. The standoff is increasingly putting pressure on the global economy, driving up prices and leading to shortages of fuel and other products tied to the oil industry.
Negotiations continued by phone after Trump called off his envoys' trip to Pakistan last week, the president said. Trump this week floated a new plan to reopen the critical passageway used by America's Gulf allies to export their oil and gas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has briefed many of his regional counterparts on the country's initiatives to end the ear, according to his social media. He also held talks Friday with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who is in contact with the EU's Gulf partners.
China's UN envoy urges Iran to lift restrictions
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Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassdor to the United Nations, said Friday that maintaining the ceasefire is “the most urgent issue" as well as bringing together the sides to resume good faith negotiations “to make sure that the ground is laid for reopening of Hormuz.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi “has been on the phone almost constantly” with representatives from all sides, Fu said, adding that China supports Pakistan's efforts to mediate between the parties.
Fu stressed the root cause of the tremendous suffering in Iran and neighboring countries and the growing turmoil in the global economy, especially in developing countries, “is the illegitimate war by the US and Israel.
