New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked Reliance Communications (RCom) and its promoter-director Anil Ambani for an alleged bank fraud of over Rs. 2,000 crore, causing significant losses to the State Bank of India (SBI), officials confirmed on Saturday.
Search operations are underway at Ambani’s residence and premises linked to RCom in connection with the case, they added.
The action follows a complaint filed by SBI after the company and its promoter were classified as ‘fraud’ on June 13 in line with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management and the bank’s internal fraud management policy.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had earlier informed the Lok Sabha that SBI reported the fraud classification to RBI on June 24, 2025, and initiated the process of filing a complaint with the CBI.
According to the minister, SBI’s exposure to RCom includes a fund-based principal outstanding of Rs. 2,227.64 crore (with accrued interest and expenses from August 26, 2016) and a non-fund-based bank guarantee of Rs. 786.52 crore.
RCom has been undergoing Corporate Insolvency Resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) since 2016.
Its resolution plan, approved by the Committee of Creditors, was submitted to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai, in March 2020 and is awaiting approval.
SBI has also initiated personal insolvency proceedings against Anil Ambani, which are currently before the NCLT.
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The account and Ambani were first declared ‘fraud’ on November 10, 2020, and a complaint was filed with the CBI on January 5, 2021.
However, the complaint was returned following a Delhi High Court status quo order on January 6, 2021.
Subsequently, a Supreme Court ruling in March 2023 (State Bank of India & Others vs Rajesh Agarwal & Others) directed lenders to give borrowers an opportunity to present their case before being labelled as fraudulent.
SBI then reversed the fraud classification on September 2, 2023, before reclassifying the account as ‘fraud’ in July 2024 after following due process, officials said.
