CBI Books Jai Anmol Ambani in Bank Fraud Case

New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) The CBI registered two FIRs against Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) group companies -- Reliance Home Finance Ltd. (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd -- in separate bank fraud cases, naming Jai Anmol Anil Ambani in one of them and bringing alleged loan defaults worth Rs 14,852 crore under scanner, officials said Tuesday.

Following the registration of the FIR against Jai Anmol Anil Ambani, the son of industrialist Anil Ambani, the CBI teams carried out a search at his residence on the seventh floor of the Sea Wind building, Anil Ambani's home in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai.

The CBI has named Jai Anmol Ambani, the then Director of Reliance Home Finance Ltd. (RHFL), along with ex-CEO Ravindra Sharad Sudhakar in connection with the case of allegedly cheating the Union Bank of India of Rs 228 crore.

In a separate case, the CBI has booked Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL) and its former directors in a case of allegedly cheating Bank of Maharashtra to the tune of Rs 57 crore. Jai Anmol has not been named in this case.

The CBI also conducted searches in Bank of Maharashtra case at the premises of the RCFL and residence of its former director Devang Mody in Pune on Tuesday.

RHFL had availed loans to the tune of Rs 5572.35 crore from 18 banks and financial institutions including the Union Bank of India, while RCFL availed loans to the tune of Rs 9,280 crore from 31 banks and financial institutions including the Bank of Maharashtra, CBI Spokesperson said in a statement.

"A thorough investigation will be conducted into allegations of defrauding all the banks and financial institutions by the accused companies," the CBI Spokesperson said.

In the case against Jai Anmol, the CBI acted on a complaint from the erstwhile Andhra Bank (which merged into Union Bank of India in 2020), alleging that RHFL did not repay the credit availed from the bank that turned the account into a non-performing asset in 2019, they said.

Queries for reaction from the Ambanis' spokesperson went unanswered.

"The CBI obtained search warrants from the court of Special Judge for CBI, Mumbai and has commenced searches at two official premises of Reliance Home Finance Ltd., residential premises of Jai Anmol Ambani..., the then Director of Reliance Home Finance Ltd. and residential premises of Ravindra Sudhalkar, Ex-CEO and Whole Time Director of RHFL, all at Mumbai on 09.12.2025," the CBI spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.


The case pertains to credit facilities worth Rs 450 crore availed by the company in 2015 from Andhra Bank's SCF branch in Mumbai for business needs.

The company failed to pay the instalments to the bank and hence, the said account was classified as a non-performing asset (NPA) on September 30, 2019, a complaint from the Union Bank of India, now part of the FIR, said.

A forensic examination of the accounts was carried out by Grant Thornton (GT), for a review period--April 1, 2016, to June 30, 2019--which showed that borrowed funds were misappropriated and considered as diversion of funds, they said.

The GT examined Rs 12000 crore disbursed by the housing finance company which showed 86 per cent funds went to potentially indirectly linked entities (PILE).

The report mapped end utilisation of Rs 8842.87 crore of open loans extended by RHFL which showed 40 per cent of the funds aggregating to Rs 3,573.06 crore were utilised towards debt servicing of PILE/group companies for term loans.

A large portion of the loans to PILE and other entities were sanctioned and disbursed without giving due consideration to prudential lending norms related to the repayment capacity, adequacy of security/collateral and other key financial metrics of the borrower(s), the report alleged.

The report pointed out 48 per cent of the total amount of loans disbursed by the RHFL (a housing finance company) during the review period pertain to Corporate loans which does not appear to align with the core objective of disbursing housing loans.

The bank in its complaint has alleged that Jai Anmol Anil Ambani and Ravindra Sharad Sudhalkar were in-charge of and responsible for the "day-today affairs and business decisions" of the company at the relevant period of time.

"...it is clear that they have, entered into a criminal conspiracy with their associates and with the mala fide intention to cheat the lenders including the complainant bank herein, misutilized the loan fund and committed diversion of fund through its sister and associate concerns, mis-appropriation of fund, criminal branch of trust..," the complaint filed by Anup Nayak Tarale, Deputy General Manager, Union Bank of India, Mumbai alleged.

The forensic audit by GT revealed that funds were allegedly diverted through Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd, Reliance Communication Infrastructure Ltd, K M Toll Road, Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd (formerly Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd.

"The accused intended to cheat/defraud the Bank since inception, which is clearly evidenced by the facts narrated in the complaint," it said.