The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken a sweeping step in its money-laundering investigation into the Reliance Anil Ambani Group, led by industrialist Anil Ambani. Over 40 properties valued at approximately ₹3,084 crore have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), covering residential, commercial and land assets across major Indian cities.
According to ED sources, the attached assets include the Pali Hill residence of Anil Ambani in Bandra West, Mumbai; the Reliance Centre office premises on Maharaja Ranjit Singh Marg in New Delhi; land parcels and flats in Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh; properties in Pune, Thane, Hyderabad, and 29 flats in Chennai valued at around ₹109.6 crore. The orders for attachment were issued on 31 October 2025.
The action stems from the ED’s investigation into alleged diversion and laundering of public funds raised by the group’s financial arms, namely Reliance Home Finance Ltd. (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd. (RCFL). Between 2017 and 2019, YES Bank invested about ₹2,965 crore in RHFL and ₹2,045 crore in RCFL instruments, which later turned non-performing by December 2019, with outstanding amounts of ₹1,353.5 crore in RHFL and ₹1,984 crore in RCFL. The ED alleges a chain of fund-routing from YES Bank exposures through RHFL and RCFL to group-linked entities, which were then used for on-lending and siphoning off of funds.
Investigators reportedly found significant lapses in loan-processing controls, including loans sanctioned and disbursed on the same day as application, in some cases even before the formal documentation was completed. Several loan files were found to contain blank or overwritten documents, inadequate securities, and borrowers with weak or negligible operations. The ED described these irregularities as intentional and consistent control failures. The investigation has also extended to other group entities, including Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM), where alleged diversion of over ₹13,600 crore has been flagged.
The attachment of such significant high-value assets signals that the ED is moving beyond search and questioning, shifting toward recovery and enforcement of criminal asset forfeiture under the PMLA. For investors, creditors including YES Bank, and the broader regulatory ecosystem, this marks a warning that large-scale fund diversion through financial intermediaries and connected-party networks may attract serious legal consequences. The fact that the attached properties span multiple jurisdictions—Mumbai, Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Pune, Thane, Hyderabad, Chennai, and East Godavari—highlights the complexity and reach of the alleged financial network.
With properties worth over ₹3,000 crore now under attachment and the investigation into the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group deepening, the ED’s action underscores the broader crackdown on money laundering and fund diversion in India’s corporate-finance sector. The coming weeks are expected to bring further disclosures, possibly including more attachments or prosecution steps, as the agency continues tracing the proceeds of crime. The development serves as a reminder to corporations, financial institutions, and regulators of the growing enforcement focus on transparency, end-use of funds, and connected-party transactions.
