ED Arrests First Accused in ₹3,000-Crore Reliance Group Loan Fraud Case

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 3, 2025: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made its first arrest in the ₹3,000-crore loan fraud case linked to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group. Partha Sarathi Biswal, Managing Director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd, was taken into custody on Friday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, for allegedly arranging fake bank guarantees worth ₹68.2 crore on behalf of Reliance Power.

According to sources, Biswal submitted forged guarantees to the Solar Energy Corporation of India using spoofed email domains resembling those of SBI. His company, founded in 2019, allegedly received ₹5.4 crore from Reliance Power for arranging the fraudulent documents and operated multiple undisclosed bank accounts.

The ED said Biswal Tradelink lacked proper documentation and used dummy directors. Biswal was remanded to ED custody until Wednesday by a special court.

The arrest follows a lookout circular issued against Anil Ambani on Thursday. The ED is probing alleged diversion of loans worth ₹3,000 crore extended by YES Bank to Reliance Group firms between 2017 and 2019, pointing to a possible quid pro quo involving bank promoters.

The agency had launched extensive raids on over 50 firms linked to the case starting July 24.

Reliance Power, in a stock exchange filing, said the reported allegations pertain to transactions of Reliance Communications or Reliance Home Finance dating back over a decade.