Thread by @BiIndia

Three #AnilAmbani companies have reportedly been accused of fraud by banks⁠ — the amount at stake is nearly ten times more than what #Mallya owed

businessinsider.in/business/corpo…

By @pabsgill

In the midst of Reliance Communications’ bankruptcy resolution process, three Indian banks — the State Bank of India (SBI), Union Bank of India (UBI) and the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) — are classifying the company’s accounts and the accounts of its units as fraudulent.

Sources told the Economic Times that the three banks, which includes India’s largest lender, are looking to launch a deeper probe into the transactions...

...from the account of three Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group entities — Reliance Communications, Reliance Infratel and Reliance Telecom.

However, the Delhi High Court has directed Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank to maintain the status quo in a matter pertaining to the classification of accounts as fraudulent until the next hearing on January 13.

The accusation of fraud puts #RelianceCommunications’ resolution plan at risk. According to the company’s official website, it owes ₹49,193 crore in dues.

In addition to that, Reliance Telecom owes ₹24,306.27 crore and Reliance Infratel owes ₹12,687.65 crore. Cumulatively, this adds up to ₹86,188 crore — while still excluding the ₹28,837 that’s owed in spectrum dues.

This is ten times more than what another fallen billionaire, Vijay Mallya, owed Indian banks, with debt amounting to ₹9,000 crore. Compared to Nirav Modi, who owes at ₹7,409.07 crore, Reliance Communications’ debt is even more than a ten-fold hike.

However, the reclassification of Reliance Communication and affiliated companies’ accounts comes at a time when the bankruptcy resolution was finally moving along.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave its approval to the resolution plan on December 5 after at least 11 months of negotiations. This opens up the path for brother, Mukesh Ambani, to pick the company’s tower and fibre assets for his own telecom enterprise, #RelianceJio.