New Delhi [India], December 11 (HBTV): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized 13 bank accounts with a balance of INR 54.82 crore belonging to Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure Ltd under Section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, for alleged contraventions under Section 4 of the Act, the agency said on Wednesday.
The federal agency's special task force carried out the seizure of the bank accounts.
ED said its investigation found that Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, through its Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), siphoned public funds from highway construction projects awarded by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
According to the agency, the funds were diverted through sham subcontracting arrangements to shell companies in Mumbai. The agency stated that 'these shell entities were set up in a coordinated manner using dummy directors at specific bank branches in Mumbai'.
ED said the funds were later 'layered through a network of other shell entities and remitted outside India to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the guise of import of polished and unpolished diamonds without receipt of any equivalent goods or documentation'.
The agency added that the UAE-based entities had bank accounts in both the UAE and Hong Kong and were found to be controlled by individuals involved in illegal international hawala operations. It also noted that the shell companies through which the funds were diverted were linked to international hawala transactions worth more than INR 600 crore.
ED said the diversion of project funds caused severe financial stress in the affected SPVs, resulting in bank loans becoming Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), leading to losses for lenders and jeopardising public financial interests.
(ANI)