Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal sent to judicial custody in money laundering case

New Delhi: A Delhi court has sent senior Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group executive and Reliance Power Ltd Chief Financial Officer Ashok Kumar Pal to judicial custody in connection with an ongoing money laundering investigation being conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). 

Pal, a close aide of industrialist Ambani, who was arrested by the ED in connection with a fake bank guarantee case linked to the ADA Group, resigned from his position shortly after being taken into custody.

The ADA case involves allegations of financial misconduct linked to Yes Bank and companies within the ADA Group, formerly headed by Anil Ambani.

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The ED had alleged that Anil Ambani and entities under the Reliance Group were involved in a Rs 17,000-crore loan fraud case.

The ED is probing possible violations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stemming from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR. It suspects that loans worth around Rs. 3,000 crore disbursed by Yes Bank between 2017 and 2019 were misused.

The federal anti-money laundering agency claimed that Pal played a key role in diverting company funds and submitting fake bank guarantees worth over Rs 68 crore to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) with the intention to defraud a public sector entity.

In a major operation in July, the ED conducted searches at 35 premises linked to the Reliance Group, targeting more than 50 companies and 25 individuals believed to be connected to the matter.

Following Pal’s arrest, shares of Reliance Group companies witnessed a sharp decline earlier this week. Reliance Power fell over 5 per cent to close at Rs 46.10 on the NSE, while Reliance Infrastructure also dropped before partially recovering by the closing bell.