Fake Bank Guarantee Case: ED Arrests Reliance Power CFO, Close Aide of Anil Ambani

As per the findings of the ED, Ashok Pal played a central role in orchestrating the preparation and submission of a fake bank guarantee worth ₹68.2 crore.

The Enforcement Directorate ( ED ) has arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, the Chief Financial Officer ( CFO ) and Executive Director of Reliance Power Limited in connection with an alleged ₹68.2 crore fake bank guarantee racket linked to companies within the Anil Ambani-led Reliance ADA Group.

The arrest was made after prolonged questioning at the Directorate’s New Delhi office, on the basis of alleged violations recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). Pal was taken into custody on Friday night and produced before a Delhi court on Saturday morning for remand proceedings.

Ashok Pal, a Chartered Accountant who has been associated with the Reliance Power group for over seven years was appointed as CFO on January 29, 2023 and has been holding the position since.

The present issue stems from the registration of an FIR filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Delhi in relation to a fake bank guarantee submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) which is a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The bogus guarantee was allegedly issued on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited and Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited, both of which are linked to the ADA Group.

Subsequently, search operations were carried out at multiple locations in Bhubaneswar and Kolkata, targeting M/s Biswal Tradelink Pvt. Ltd., an entity deemed by the ED to have played a central role in issuing the fake bank guarantees for an 8% commission. The Directorate has also arrested M/s Biswal’s Managing Director, Partha Sarathi Biswal who remains in judicial custody.

ED’s Allegations and Findings

As per the findings of the ED, Ashok Pal played a central role in orchestrating and supervising the preparation and submission of the fake bank guarantee worth ₹68.2 crore to SECI. ED maintains that Pal used the financial credibility of Reliance Power to bid for SECI’s Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) tender and approved payments and documents related to the fraudulent guarantee.

Investigation revealed that the fake guarantee purportedly came from “FirstRand Bank, Manila”, though no such branch existed in the Philippines. The ED further alleged that the group used spoof email domains mimicking major Indian banks such as “s-bi.co.in” instead of “sbi.co.in” in an attempt to make forged instruments appear genuine. Several other fake domains resembling Indian Bank, PNB, and Union Bank were also detected to have been used.

The probe revealed suspicious financial transactions, undisclosed bank accounts and use of encrypted communication platforms like Telegram with disappearing messages to conceal evidence, along with fake transport invoices worth several crores that were used to divert funds.

Wider Investigation of ADA Group

Preliminary Investigations point towards a broader ₹17,000 Crore loan fraud investigation involving the ADA Group and Yes Bank. The ED had previously summoned Anil Ambani and conducted searches at 35 locations in Mumbai in August, covering 50 companies and 25 individuals associated with the group.

Investigation is ongoing, with the ED also having sought domain registration data for the fake email addresses from the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) as part of evidence collection.

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