Winning Bizness Desk

Mumbai.Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani has been declared a fraud borrower by Bank of Baroda. This follows similar actions earlier by State Bank of India and Bank of India. The fresh blow comes even as Ambani is facing multiple cases of loan fraud with Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation investigations already underway.

Letter sent to Reliance Communications

According to Reliance Communications (RCom), the company received a letter from Bank of Baroda on September 2 informing them of the fraud declaration. The bank had given the company a line of credit worth Rs 1,600 crore and another of Rs 862.50 crore.

Loan not serviced since 2017

The bank stated that RCom had availed a total loan of Rs 2,462.50 crore, of which Rs 1,656.07 crore remains unpaid as of August 28. The account was classified as a non-performing asset on June 5, 2017. A loan becomes NPA when repayment of principal or interest is overdue by more than 90 days.

ED and CBI raids on Reliance Group

On July 24, the Enforcement Directorate raided more than 35 premises linked to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group and over 50 associated companies. A month later, on August 23, the CBI carried out raids at Ambani’s residence in Mumbai. These actions are part of investigations into various loan fraud allegations.

Company calls matter old and baseless

A spokesperson for Reliance Communications said the issue was nearly 12 years old and insisted that Anil Ambani was only a non-executive director between 2006 and 2019. He had no role in daily operations or decision-making, they claimed. The spokesperson said all allegations were baseless and the company would seek legal remedies. Reliance Power separately informed the stock exchange that the Bank of Baroda move would not affect its trading or financial performance, adding that Ambani has not been on its board for more than three and a half years.

What law says on fraud accounts

Under banking regulations, once an account is declared fraud, the case is automatically referred to enforcement agencies. The borrower cannot receive any new funding for the next five years. Reliance Communications currently carries a total debt of Rs 40,400 crore as of March 2025 and has been under insolvency proceedings since 2019. A lenders’ committee led by SBI approved a resolution plan in 2020, but the matter is still pending in court.

Fresh CBI case earlier this month

Just 13 days ago, the CBI registered a fresh case against Reliance Communications for a Rs 2,929 crore fraud linked to loans from SBI. The agency also searched the company’s Mumbai office and Ambani’s home on August 23. Ambani has denied all charges. Meanwhile, Bank of Baroda has also started individual insolvency proceedings against Ambani, which are pending before the Mumbai bench of the NCLT. The ED raids of July 23 were linked to alleged fraud involving a Rs 3,000 crore loan from Yes Bank.

Story in a nutshell

• Bank of Baroda declares Anil Ambani and Reliance Communications as fraud borrowers
• SBI and Bank of India had already taken similar action earlier this year
• RCom owes Rs 1,656 crore unpaid since 2017 on loans worth Rs 2,462 crore
• ED raided 35 Reliance Group locations in July; CBI raided Ambani’s home in August
• Reliance Communications says matter is old; Ambani had no role in daily operations
• Law bars fresh funding for five years once an account is labelled fraud
• CBI recently filed a fresh case over Rs 2,929 crore SBI loan fraud