CBI books Anil Abani's son Jai Anmol in Rs 228 crore bank fund misuse

 

 

The FIR, filed on December 6, 2025, at the CBI’s Banking Security and Fraud Branch in New Delhi, names Jai Anmol Ambani, former director of Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL), along with the company’s former CEO Ravindra Sharad Sudhalkar, other associates, and certain public servants.

The alleged irregularities took place between April 2016 and June 2019.

According to a complaint filed by Union Bank’s Deputy General Manager, Anup Vinayak Tarale, RHFL had approached the erstwhile Andhra Bank, now merged with Union Bank, for financial assistance in 2015.

Between February and May that year, the bank sanctioned three term loans worth Rs 450 crore and invested Rs 100 crore in private non-convertible debentures, bringing total exposure to Rs 550 crore.

These facilities were secured against book debts, receivables, and outstanding monies valued at Rs 3,231.64 crore as of June 2020.

An internal audit submitted to the bank in May 2020 flagged serious irregularities. It found that 86% of corporate loans, amounting to Rs 12,573.06 crore, were disbursed to “Potentially Indirectly Linked Entities” without proper evaluation of repayment capacity or sufficient collateral.

Around 40% of the funds, totaling Rs 3,573.06 crore, were diverted to service debts of other group companies, while 18% (Rs 1,610.13 crore) involved circular transactions returning funds to RHFL. Investigators could not trace the use of 22% of the funds, amounting to Rs 1,934.88 crore.

The forensic report further revealed that nearly half of RHFL’s loan disbursements during the review period were for corporate loans unrelated to its core mandate as a housing finance company.

The account became a non-performing asset on September 30, 2019, and was subsequently resolved under the RBI’s Framework for Resolution of Stressed Assets, with a change in management.

As per the resolution plan implemented in March 2023, Union Bank recovered only Rs 60.23 crore.

The CBI probe suggests that diverted funds were routed through several entities, including Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd, Reliance Communication Infrastructure Ltd, and K M Toll Road.