Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated a cheating case against Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL), its former chairman Anil Ambani, and unidentified public servants, linked to an alleged loss of Rs 1,816 crore incurred by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
The CBI has accused RCL of defaulting on repayments after the EPFO made an investment of Rs 2,500 crore in RCL’s secured non-convertible debentures during the fiscal year 2013-14.
This issue was previously addressed at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), but following new findings released by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) concerning fraudulent activities within RCL, the EPFO lodged a fraud case with the CBI against both Ambani and RCL.
A spokesperson for Anil Ambani stated, “The FIR registered by CBI pertains to Reliance Capital Limited. Ambani served as a non-executive director/chairman of the Board of Reliance Capital Limited from 2005 until Nov 2021, when the Reserve Bank of India superseded the board of directors of the company and appointed an administrator. Ambani denies any wrongdoing whatsoever and reserves all rights available to him in law.”
The EPFO is responsible for managing the Employees’ Provident Fund, Pension Scheme, and Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme. The funds accumulated by the EPFO are overseen by the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), which is the statutory body managing and investing these funds in the interest of subscribers.
RCL’s financial difficulties began to surface in 2019, leading the company into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process. In 2021, the EPFO filed its claim with the resolution professional. After receiving NCLT approval in 2024, EPFO managed to recover Rs 1,492 crore of the amount owed, leaving an outstanding balance of Rs 1,007 crore plus Rs 809 crore in interest unpaid.
The ED had been investigating RCL for a separate matter and recently shared its findings with the EPFO, which stated in its complaint to the CBI that “the conduct of and transactions entered into by Reliance Capital Limited and the persons in charge of its management during the period 7 Dec 2019 to 6 Dec 2021 disclose various fraudulent transactions…”
