CBI registers case against Anil Ambani, Reliance Communications over alleged ₹3,750 crore LIC loss
NEW DELHI — India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against Reliance Communications Ltd., its chairman Anil Ambani, and others over allegations of causing a wrongful loss of ₹3,750 crore to the Life Insurance Corporation of India.
The case, filed on Wednesday, also names unknown public servants and other unidentified individuals. It is based on a complaint from LIC alleging offenses including criminal conspiracy, cheating, misappropriation, and violations under the Prevention of Corruption Act, according to an official statement.
Investigators allege that LIC was fraudulently induced to subscribe to non-convertible debentures worth ₹4,500 crore based on false representations about Reliance Communications’ financial health, as well as the security and asset cover offered at the time of investment.
The complaint draws on a forensic audit conducted by BDO India LLP on Oct. 15, 2020. The audit reportedly found that the company and its management misused funds raised from banks and financial institutions, routed money through subsidiaries, and engaged in practices such as discounting fictitious bills and inflating receivables. It also alleged systematic diversion of funds through inter-company transactions and shell entities, along with an overstatement of security, resulting in a mismatch between pledged assets and liabilities.
The investigation is ongoing, officials said.
The latest case adds to a series of probes involving Reliance Communications and Ambani. The CBI has previously registered three cases against the company and its executives on allegations of defrauding multiple banks.
Ambani was also questioned for two consecutive days at the agency’s headquarters in New Delhi in connection with a separate alleged ₹2,929.05 crore fraud involving the State Bank of India.
In that case, an FIR was filed on Aug. 21, 2025, following a complaint by SBI, which is the lead lender in a consortium of 11 banks that had extended loans to the Anil Ambani-led group. Other lenders in the consortium include Bank of India, Central Bank of India, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank, and others.
According to investigators, a forensic audit in the SBI-linked case found large-scale diversion and misutilization of loan funds through complex transactions among group entities between 2013 and 2017, resulting in losses of ₹2,929.05 crore to SBI out of a total exposure of ₹19,694.33 crore involving 17 public sector banks.
Following that probe, additional complaints were filed by several banks, including Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Union Bank of India, UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra.
In a separate development, another case was registered on Feb. 25 based on a complaint from Bank of Baroda, involving exposure linked to Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank. (Source: IANS)
