Anil Ambani skips ED summons for second time in FEMA probe

Reliance ADAG Group Chairman Anil Ambani on Monday skipped the Enforcement Directoratersquos ED summons for the second time failing to appear before the agency at its Delhi headquarters in connection with a FEMA investigation linked to the JaipurndashReengus highway project sources told news agency IANSAmbani had earlier missed an inperson questioning session on Friday after the ED declined his request to join the proceedings virtually He again sought permission to appear via video conferencing on Monday but the agency insisted on a physical appearanceAccording to ED sources investigators intend to record Ambanirsquos statement under FEMA as part of a probe into allegations that around Rs 40 crore from the 2010 highway project awarded to Reliance Infrastructure was diverted abroad The money was allegedly routed through Suratbased shell companies to Dubai forming part of what officials believe is a wider international hawala network worth over Rs 600 crore reported IANSAmbani had responded to Fridayrsquos summons via email offering to appear virtually but the ED rejected the request and issued a fresh notice directing him to appear in person on November 17In a statement a Reliance Group spokesperson said ldquoMr Anil Ambani has offered to make himself available for the recording of his statement at any date and time suitable to ED via virtual appearancerecorded videordquoThe spokesperson also clarified that Ambani ldquois not a member of the Board of Reliance Infrastructurerdquo and had served only as a nonexecutive director between April 2007 and March 2022 without involvement in the companyrsquos daily operations The JaipurndashReengus project the spokesperson added was a purely domestic contract handled by the National Highways Authority of India NHAI with no foreign exchange components reported IANSAmbani was previously questioned for nearly nine hours in August at the ED headquarters in connection with an alleged Rs 17000crore loan fraud caseThe latest development comes days after the ED provisionally attached over 132 acres of land valued at Rs 446281 crore in the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City DAKC complex in Navi Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA The agency had earlier attached 42 other properties worth more than Rs 3083 crore in cases linked to Reliance Communications Ltd RCOM Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd and Reliance Home Finance LtdWith the latest action total attachments in these cases have crossed Rs 7545 crore ldquoED is actively pursuing perpetrators of financial crime and is committed to restituting the proceeds of crime to their rightful claimantsrdquo the agency said in a statement reported IANSThe EDrsquos investigation stems from a CBI FIR against RCOM Anil Ambani and others under IPC sections 120B 406 420 and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act According to officials RCOM and its group companies took substantial loans from domestic and foreign lenders between 2010 and 2012 with outstanding dues amounting to Rs 40185 crore five banks have since classified the accounts as fraudulentWith inputs from IANS