MUMBAI: The CBI on Saturday registered a cheating case against Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL), its ex-chairman Anil Ambani and unknown public servants over the alleged Rs 1,816 crore loss caused to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).The agency alleged that the EPFO invested in RCL’s secured non-convertible debentures, on which the company subsequently defaulted on repayment.Earlier, the issue was settled before the NCLT, but recently the Enforcement Directorate (ED) shared its investigation finding of RCL’s fraudulent translations. Based on this, the EPFO inquired into the issue and subsequently filed the fraud case against Ambani and RCL with the CBI.A spokesperson of Anil Ambani said, “The FIR registered by the CBI pertains to Reliance Capital Limited. Mr Ambani served as a non-executive director/chairman of the board of Reliance Capital Limited from 2005 until November 2021, when the Reserve Bank of India superseded the board of directors of the company and appointed an administrator. Mr Ambani denies any wrongdoing, whatsoever, and reserves all rights available to him in law.”EPFO administered the Employees’ Provident Fund, Pension Scheme and Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme. The fund accumulations with EPFO were vested in the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the statutory governing body which held, managed and invests such funds in trust for benefit of the subscribers.During 2013-14, RCL issued secured NCD and portfolio manager of EPFO had invested Rs 2,500 crore in it. The maturity period was in 2023-24. RCL’s financial position deteriorated in 2019, and the company subsequently went into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process.In 2021, the EPFO lodged its claim before the Resolution Professional and, after NCLT approval in 2024, the EPFO received Rs 1,492 crore of its total dues. The remaining amount of Rs 1007 crore, along with Rs 809 crore interest, remained unpaid.
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The ED, which investigated RCL in a separate case, recently shared its findings with the EPFO.Citing the ED findings and documentary evidence recovered during the investigation, the EPFO said in its complaint to the CBI that “the conduct of and transactions entered into Reliance Capital Limited and the persons in charge of its management during the period 7 December 2019 to 6 December 2021 disclose various fraudulent transactions. In addition, during earlier period as well, various fraudulent transactions have been found which also led to ultimate failure of RCL as a consequence of siphoning off of money of RCL.”
