The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made a third arrest in the ongoing money laundering probe linked to a ₹68-crore fake bank guarantee issued on behalf of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Power, official sources said on Friday.
The latest accused, identified as Amar Nath Dutta, was taken into custody on Thursday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He has been remanded to four days of ED custody by a special court.
Earlier, the agency had arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Reliance Power, and Partha Sarathi Biswal, Managing Director of Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink, in connection with the same case.
According to investigators, the case revolves around a fake bank guarantee worth ₹68.2 crore, allegedly submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power. The company, previously known as Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited, reportedly submitted a bank guarantee purportedly from FirstRand Bank, Manila — a branch that does not exist.
The ED alleges that Biswal Tradelink operated a racket supplying fake bank guarantees to corporate entities for an 8% commission. The money laundering investigation stems from an FIR filed by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in November 2024.
Officials revealed that Biswal Tradelink used a fake email domain (s-bi.co.in) — similar to the State Bank of India’s official domain (sbi.co.in) — to send forged communications to SECI, creating a false impression of authenticity. The company’s registered office was found to be a residential property belonging to one of Biswal’s relatives.
In its defence, Reliance Power said it was a “victim of fraud, forgery, and cheating conspiracy” and had already reported the incident to the stock exchanges on November 7, 2024. A company spokesperson confirmed that a criminal complaint had been filed with the Delhi Police in October 2024 against the third party involved.
The Reliance Group also clarified that Anil Ambani has not been on the board of Reliance Power for over three and a half years and has “no connection with the case.”
The ED continues to investigate the flow of funds and the possible role of intermediaries in what officials describe as a “sophisticated financial fraud using fake documentation and forged banking channels.”
