After the State Bank of India (SBI) declared the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications’ (RCom) loan accounts as ‘fraud’, the Bank of India (BOI) has also classified the loan accounts of RCom, Reliance Telecom and its directors, including the loan accounts Anil Ambani, as ‘fraud’, according to a stock exchange filing by Bank of India.
The decision came after a forensic audit to track the money transaction trail was undertaken by BDO India on behalf of the Bank of India.
The audit by BDO India for April 2013-March 2017 pointed to diversion and misappropriation of funds, from the nature of transactions which showed “suspected fraudulent connotations”.
The audit showed that a Rs 700-crore loan to RCom for capital and operational expenditure and repayment of liabilities was partly diverted. According to the Bank of India, RCom’s directors, who were whole-time members of its board during the period, failed to prove that the transactions occurred without their knowledge or consent.
The loan accounts of Anil Ambani, Manjari Ashok Kacker of Rcom and Grace Thomas, Satheesh Seth, Gautam Bhailal Doshi, Dagdulal Kasturchand Jain and Prakash Shenoy of Reliance Telecom have also been classified as ‘fraud’.
Bank of India said the loan accounts of RCom, Anil Ambani and Manjari Ashik Kacker had been tagged as ‘fraud’ for an outstanding loan of Rs 724.78 crore.
The bank noted that the account turned non-performing (NPA) in June 2017 and despite repeated follow-ups, the borrowers and guarantors failed to repay their dues. “The account of the borrower became a non-performing asset (NPA) on 30.06.2017 with an outstanding of Rs 724.78 crores. The bank has been following up with the borrowers and guarantors for repayment of dues. However, they have failed and neglected to make repayment of the dues,” Bank of India stated in its filing to the stock exchange.
However, according to a spokesperson for Anil Ambani, the matter dates back more than 10 years. Anil Ambani stepped down as the non-executive director on the board of RCom in 2019, and since then played no role in the daily operations or decision-making of the company, the spokesperson stated.