ED makes first arrest in Rs 3,000-crore loan fraud case against Anil Ambani

In a significant development in the money laundering investigation related to business entities owned by industrialist Anil Ambani, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made its first arrest. Managing Director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt. Ltd. (BTPL), Partha Sarathi Biswal, was taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The arrest comes a day after the ED conducted extensive searches at the premises of BTPL in Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. The case stems from an FIR filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police against BTPL, its directors, and others for allegedly issuing a fake bank guarantee submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

According to the ED’s findings, BTPL fraudulently arranged fake bank guarantees worth Rs 68.2 crore, backed by forged endorsements from the State Bank of India and fabricated confirmation emails using spoofed SBI email IDs. The fake guarantee was used to support a tender floated by SECI.

Crucially, the ED has uncovered that BTPL allegedly received Rs 5.4 crore from Reliance Power Ltd.—a company owned by Anil Ambani—for facilitating the fake bank guarantee. This financial trail,



officials say, is a key element linking BTPL’s fraudulent operations to Ambani’s corporate network.

The investigation has further revealed that BTPL, a relatively obscure firm incorporated in 2019, maintained multiple undisclosed bank accounts and carried out financial transactions that were grossly disproportionate to its reported turnover. Authorities have traced proceeds of the crime running into crores of rupees across at least seven hidden bank accounts.

Regulatory violations are rampant, the agency claims. Statutory records, including books of accounts and shareholder registers, were missing from the company’s registered office. The ED suspects the use of dummy directors to mask true ownership and enable the laundering of funds.

Partha Sarathi Biswal was produced before a court following his arrest and has been remanded to ED custody till August 6 for further interrogation.

In response to recent developments, the Reliance Group said that all its subsidiaries acted bona fide and were victims of fraud, forgery, and a cheating conspiracy.

Meanwhile, the ED has summoned Ambani for questioning on August 5 in connection with the case.