The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has ordered a Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) probe into Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group over alleged fund diversion and financial irregularities across multiple subsidiaries.
Published: November 5, 2025 5:39 PM IST
The government’s company watchdog, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), is digging deeper into the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG). They’ve brought in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to specifically investigate claims that money was illegally moved between many different companies within the group.
Background: MCA’s SFIO Probe Into R-ADAG
The MCA initially investigated the group and found prima facie evidence of diversion of funds in several group companies, including Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Communications, Reliance Commercial Finance and CLE Private limited. Based on these findings, the matter was referred to the SFIO, which indicates the regulatory body’s view that the issue at hand is severe and systemic.
Why It Matters: The SFIO Probe into R-ADAG
The investigation notes that RCOM and its associated companies had taken large loans from Indian banks between 2010-12, which as on date stand at around ₹40,185 crore with five banks having declared the loan accounts as fraud accounts.
The funds collected by RCOM and associated companies for the group’s operations have been allegedly used for repayment of previous borrowings, also showing the funds moving through related parties, which is commonly known as “ever-greening” of borrowings.
It is believed that around ₹13,600 crore were siphoned off through such layered transactions, including alleged overseas payments.
Increasing scrutiny by regulatory bodies
The MCA had sent the matter to SFIO soon after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had attached assets worth nearly ₹7,500 crore of group companies and the central agencies had searched the premises of group senior officials and Anil Ambani’s residence in August this year.
Last month, the ED arrested a top finance executive of the group in the case, and a top MCA source also confirmed that further search operations will continue as investigations gather pace. The widening of regulatory probes into the group has put a spotlight on R-ADAG’s finances, corporate governance and the alleged use of complex transactions to shift funds, raising questions about the transparency and accountability of business practices among conglomerates.
Implications for the Tech & Telecom Sector
The R-ADAG group owns Reliance Communications, which was once one of India’s largest telecom companies. The alleged diversion of funds will not only have direct consequences for lenders and investors in the company, but also for the regulatory environment of the telecom-infra sector, which is heavily driven by these fund flows.
The probe will further strengthen regulatory pressure across the Indian tech industry and highlight the need for greater transparency in operations and compliance with all statutory norms, as many tech firms in India and globally have interdependencies in various sectors. The alleged movement of funds to overseas entities would draw further scrutiny to the fintech sector as regulators and investigators try to understand the linkages, if any, of these fund flows, and also how telecom infrastructure has been used for financial engineering in some cases.
What to watch?
The SFIO is likely to come out with its report soon, for which Anil Ambani and R-ADAG will have to face civil as well as criminal liabilities, including the possible prosecution of top executives of the group companies. The events that follow the SFIO report can give a major jolt to investors and all stakeholders in the telecom-infrastructure space, as there is evidence of opaque deals and transactions done for aggressive, debt-based growth models.
The stock markets are now looking at the quick action that the regulator and investigative agencies might take on these cases, and how this investigation and its report might impact the Indian tech and telecom sector, and the moves that founders and companies make in India and abroad.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: india.com
