Matribhumi Samachar English
Mumbai. Tuesday, 26 May 2026
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has tightened the legal loop around the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) by registering a fresh criminal case involving an alleged ₹150 crore bank fraud. The investigation, initiated at the Cuffe Parade Police Station, target former whole-time directors and key officials of Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) alongside various beneficiary companies within the ADAG network.
The Modus Operandi: Forgery and Systemic Diversion
According to the formal complaint lodged by Prakash Prabhakar Rao, Vice President of Axis Bank, the financial irregularities spanned a nearly ten-year window between January 2010 and November 2019.
The investigation details a deliberate scheme consisting of three primary phases:
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Falsified Asset Health: The accused allegedly submitted forged documents, deceptive financial statements, and misleading disclosures to project RHFL as a highly stable, credit-worthy institution.
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Sanction and Disbursal: Based on these misrepresented metrics, Axis Bank approved and released credit facilities totaling ₹150 crore.
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The Siphoning Stage: Once the capital hit RHFL accounts, it was systematically routed away from its intended housing finance functions. Instead, it was layered and transferred into the bank accounts of other capital-starved ADAG group companies.
The account subsequently collapsed into default, forcing the lender to initiate forensic audits that flagged the non-standard transactions.
Part of a Multi-Agency Crackdown
This marks the second major criminal complaint filed by Axis Bank with the Mumbai EOW, closely following a previous FIR registered on March 12 against sister entity Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) over a distinct ₹50 crore cash credit default.
The EOW’s criminal prosecution moves concurrently with massive enforcement actions by central agencies targeting legacy ADAG debts. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has already executed provisional attachments under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on critical group assets—including the provisional attachment of Anil Ambani’s ₹3,700-crore Mumbai residence “Abode”—as they map out the broader network of dummy corporate entities used for shell operations.
From an investor and banking perspective, the aggressive filing of these FIRs signals private lenders transitioning from prolonged Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) resolutions to active white-collar criminal enforcement under the Reserve Bank of India’s strict Fraud Reporting Framework.
