Mumbai, Feb 25 (UNI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached a Pali Hill residential property called ‘Abode’ worth Rs 3,716.83 crore linked to businessman Anil Ambani in connection with the alleged Reliance Communications Limited (RCom) bank fraud case on Wednesday.
After the latest attachment by the ED, the cumulative value of the attachment with respect to Anil Ambani now stands at more than Rs 15,700 crore.
A part of the residential property named ‘Abode’ located in Bandra West, worth Rs 473.17 crore, had been attached by the ED.
The ED investigation is based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against RCom, Anil Ambani as well as others.
According to charges, RCom and its group companies had taken loans from domestic and foreign lenders, out of which a total amount of Rs 40,185 crore is outstanding to various creditors.
“An ED investigation has revealed that among other assets, the Pali Hill property was aggregated into the Rise E Trust, which is a private family Trust of the members of Anil Ambani’s family. This was done to make it appear as if Anil Ambani is not involved,” according to an ED statement on Wednesday.
According to the ED, the intended effect of the corporate restructuring was to ensure wealth preservation and resource generation by aggregation of the property in the Rise E Trust as well as shield the residential property from the personal liabilities of Anil Ambani in the form of personal guarantees extended by him to lender banks against the loans sanctioned to RCom.
“The property was intended to be beneficially used and owned by Anil Ambani’s family and not for distressed public banks whose loans turned non-performing asset (NPA),” according to the ED statement.
