In a fresh storm for the debt-laden Anil Ambani business empire, investigative portal Cobrapost has alleged that the Ani Dhirubai Ambani Reliance Group siphoned off over Rs 41,921 crore from its companies over nearly two decades through a maze of shell firms, offshore vehicles and dubious transactions.
The group has hit back, dismissing the claims as a “malicious campaign” designed to crash its share prices and aid rivals.
Cobrapost is a non-profit news website known for its undercover investigative journalism. Founded in 2005 by Aniruddha Bahal, it is a platform for in-depth reporting on a wide range of topics, with a particular focus on sting operations.
According to Cobrapost’s probe, Rs 28,874 crore raised via bank loans, IPO proceeds and bonds from listed firms — including Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Home Finance, Reliance Commercial Finance and Reliance Corporate Advisory Services — was diverted to entities linked to the Ambani family.
The report further alleged that an additional $1.54 billion (Rs 13,047 crore) was channelled into India “in a fraudulent manner” through subsidiaries and shell companies in Singapore, Mauritius, Cyprus, the British Virgin Islands, the US and the UK. The money trail, it claimed, points to violations of the Companies Act, FEMA, PMLA, SEBI Act and Income Tax laws.
Cobrapost alleged that a Singapore-based company, Emerging Market Investments & Trading Pte (EMITS), received $750 million from a mysterious entity, NexGen Capital, before transferring the amount to Reliance Innoventures, the holding company of the group, and then shutting shop — a transaction the portal said “could amount to money laundering”.
It also claimed misuse of company funds for personal indulgences, including the purchase of a $20 million yacht allegedly bought by Anil Ambani in 2008 through one of the group’s listed firms.
The portal said the group deployed a “complex web” of pass-through entities and special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to shuffle money, which was eventually written off, leaving investors and lenders to bear the losses. Editor Aniruddha Bahal claimed the investigation was based on official filings and orders from SEBI, NCLT, RBI and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, as well as overseas regulators. He alleged this led to a “total erosion of public wealth” worth Rs 3.38 lakh crore.
The ADA Group, in a sharp rebuttal, branded the allegations “recycled falsehoods” and a “coordinated smear campaign” to damage its reputation and engineer panic in the stock market.
Calling Cobrapost a “dead platform resurrected for a corporate hit job”, the group said the claims were based on outdated, publicly available information already scrutinised by the CBI, ED, SEBI and other authorities.
“This is a deliberate and organised attempt to malign the Reliance Group, Anil Ambani and 55 lakh shareholders, while aiding rival corporates eager to snap up our assets at distressed valuations,” the statement said.
Though the group did not name its rivals, it hinted that the assets being eyed include Delhi’s BSES power distribution company, the Mumbai Metro project and the 1,200 MW Rosa power plant.
Meanwhile, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power have filed complaints with SEBI, seeking a probe into what they call “suspicious trading activity” in their shares.
The group reiterated that it remains fully compliant with laws and committed to protecting shareholder interests.
