Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, Jul 2: In a major development, the State Bank of India (SBI) has classified the loan account of Reliance Communications (RCom) as “fraud” and decided to report the company’s erstwhile director, Anil Ambani, to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The disclosure was made by RCom in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The letter from SBI, dated June 23, was received by RCom on June 30. It states that the bank’s Fraud Identification Committee found significant deviations in the utilisation of loans and irregularities in the handling of the account.

RCom, which is currently undergoing corporate insolvency resolution proceedings (CIRP), is a group firm under the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group. The company and its subsidiaries reportedly borrowed around Rs 31,580 cr from banks, according to the filing.

“This is to inform you that the company has received a letter... stating that SBI has decided to report the loan account of the company as ‘fraud’ and to report the name of Shri Anil Dhirajlal Ambani... to the RBI,” the filing noted.

SBI had earlier issued multiple show-cause notices to RCom in December 2023, March 2024, and September 2024 regarding the matter. The bank reportedly found that RCom failed to explain why it violated loan terms and did not provide satisfactory responses about the irregularities flagged in its operations.

The firm clarified that the loans in question pertain to the period before the initiation of CIRP and must be resolved as part of the approved resolution plan or liquidation, as per the insolvency code. The resolution plan has already received approval from RCom’s committee of creditors and is pending final nod from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Neither SBI nor Anil Ambani has issued a public statement on the matter so far.