New Delhi/Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted raids at multiple offices linked to industrialist Anil Ambani in Delhi and Mumbai. As part of an ongoing money laundering investigation, the agency searched around 50 locations associated with Ambani and his companies. The probe is focused on financial transactions related to loans amounting to approximately Rs 3,000 crore.
The raids come on the heels of the State Bank of India (SBI) officially classifying Ambani and his company, Reliance Communications (RCom), as “fraudulent” on June 13, 2025. SBI has reportedly initiated the process of filing a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), citing outstanding dues exceeding Rs 2,000 crore.
According to SBI, the classification was done in accordance with guidelines set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under its ‘Fraud Risk Management’ framework and the bank’s board-approved policies. The RBI was notified of the classification on June 24, while RCom disclosed the update to the stock exchange on July 1.
SBI had extended a loan of Rs 2,227.64 crore to RCom, in addition to a bank guarantee of Rs 786.52 crore. Interest and other charges have been accruing since August 26, 2016.
This isn’t the first instance of such classification. In November 2020, SBI had earlier declared both RCom and Anil Ambani as fraudulent and submitted a complaint to the CBI in January 2021. However, the Delhi High Court issued a status quo order the next day, prompting the CBI to return the complaint.
Later, in a landmark judgment on March 27, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that borrowers must be given an opportunity to present their case before being designated as fraudsters. Following this, SBI temporarily withdrew the fraud classification on September 2, 2023.
After the RBI issued revised norms on July 15, 2024, SBI re-initiated due procedures and, upon completion of internal review, reinstated the fraud designation for both Anil Ambani and RCom.