Anil Ambani reviewing Sebi order, to take appropriate steps

Businessman Anil Ambani is reviewing a Sebi order imposing a fine and banning him from capital markets for five years in an alleged fund diversion case and will take appropriate next steps as legally advised, his spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday.

Ambani, the spokesperson in a statement said, had resigned from the board of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd and Reliance Power Ltd, pursuant to Sebi's interim order dated February 11, 2022 in the matter pertaining to Reliance Home Finance Ltd.

He "is in compliance with the said interim order (of February 11, 2022) for the last two and half years," the statement said.

On the August 22 order that banned him and 24 others from the securities market for five years on charges of diversion of funds, the spokesperson said, "Mr Ambani is reviewing the final order dated August 22, 2024 passed by Sebi in the said matter, and will take appropriate next steps as legally advised."

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had also imposed a fine of Rs 25 crore on Ambani, saying he orchestrated a scheme to "siphon off" funds from Reliance Home Finance, a listed subsidiary of conglomerate Reliance Group of which he is chairman.

The ban means that he and the other 24 will not be able to access the securities market and are prohibited from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities, directly or indirectly.

In a separate statement, Mumbai-listed Reliance Infrastructure Ltd said it "was not a noticee or party to the proceedings before Sebi in which the order is passed. No directions are given in the order against Reliance Infrastructure Ltd".

"Mr Ambani had resigned from the board of directors of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd pursuant to the interim order dated February 11, 2022 passed by Sebi in the same proceedings. Therefore, the order dated August 22, 2024 passed by Sebi has no bearing whatsoever on the business and affairs of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd," it said.

Reliance Power, the other listed company of Anil Ambani's group, also issued a similar statement saying Ambani had resigned in 2022 and that the latest Sebi order has no bearing on it.

Sebi in the August 22 order had stated that a "fraudulent" scheme "siphoned off" funds from Reliance Home Finance, which provides loans for housing and construction, by structuring them as loans to credit-unworthy borrowers.

Most of these borrowers were linked to "promoters", the regulator had said.

Anil Ambani and his elder brother Mukesh had in July 2006 split their father Dhirubhai Ambani-created Reliance Industries Ltd. Anil Ambani's Reliance Group spanned financial services, infrastructure and telecommunications while the elder brother got the traditional oil refining and petrochemicals business.

Over the last few years, Anil Ambani has seen three of the largest firms within the group, including Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, and Reliance Infrastructure, undergoing bankruptcy over unpaid debt.

Sebi has charged that more than Rs 9,000 crore worth of loans from Reliance Home Finance were made to "nondescript borrowers who had no demonstrable financial ability to repay any of it".

The other 24 banned include executives of Anil Ambani's Reliance Group and other unlisted companies connected to him.