The Enforcement Directorate has filed a chargesheet against Reliance Power Ltd and 10 others, including executives from Reliance Infrastructure, in a money laundering probe tied to fake bank guarantees worth Rs 68.2 crore submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India. The complaint names Reliance Power, its subsidiary Reliance NU BESS Ltd (formerly Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited), former CEO and Executive Director of Reliance Infrastructure, the company’s CFO, and Bhubaneswar-based shell firm Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd among the accused. Filed before Patiala House Court under PMLA, this follows two Delhi Police EOW FIRs—one from SECI against Reliance NU BESS and another from the subsidiary against Biswal Tradelink.
According to agency sources, Reliance Power obtained a significant SECI tender for 1,000 MW/2,000 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage System projects by purposefully using false guarantees from nonexistent international bank branches. The organization hurried an authentic IDBI Bank guarantee after SECI discovered fake SBI endorsements, but they were turned down since they missed the deadline. As the investigation revealed routed cash and fraudulent invoicing, three arrests-Biswal Tradelink MD Partha Sarathi Biswal, former CFO Ashok Kumar Pal, and Amar Nath Dutta remain in judicial detention.
Fake Guarantees Linked to SECI Tender Bid
Reliance NU BESS submitted the Rs 68.2 crore bank guarantees, purportedly from First Rand Bank’s Manila branch (non-existent) and ACE Investment Bank Malaysia, to meet SECI tender requirements. ED alleges Reliance Power hired shell entity Biswal Tradelink with “mala fide intent” to arrange these fakes, using spoofed SBI emails from a fraudulent domain s-bi.co.in mimicking sbi.co.in. Forged SBI endorsement letters backed the sham, fooling SECI initially in the tariff-based competitive bidding for BESS projects.
After discrepancies surfaced, Reliance Group executives rushed to set up a valid IDBI guarantee overnight, but SECI rejected it since it was too late. Quick replacement efforts are used by the agency as proof that group executives knew the guarantees were untrue from the start. The theft severely weakened trust in clean energy procurement because of the tender’s massive scope-1,000 MW of power and 2,000 MWh of storage.
Funds Routed Through Shell Company Exposed:
To fund the fake setup, Reliance Power transferred Rs 6.33 crore from subsidiary Rosa Power Supply Company Ltd to Biswal Tradelink, disguised as payments for bogus transportation services. Officials cooked up fake work orders and invoices in cahoots with Biswal to paint it as legit business, ED says. After securing the fraudulent guarantees, Reliance Power shelled out another Rs 5.40 crore fee to the shell firm, propping up the scam as a “genuine commercial transaction.”
Probe nailed the connivance, with assets worth Rs 5.15 crore already attached in this case. Biswal Tradelink played middleman, pocketing fees while delivering fakes from phantom banks, all to tilt the SECI bid in Reliance’s favor. ED’s supplementary chargesheet tightens the noose, laying out the money trail from Rosa Power straight to the fraud enablers.
Reliance Group Denies Involvement, Calls It External Fraud:
Reliance Group shot back, stating Anil Ambani quit its boards over three years ago with zero role in operations or this matter. They positioned themselves as victims of “fraud, forgery, and cheating” by outside parties like Biswal, disclosing the issue to stock exchanges on November 7, 2024. The group stressed full cooperation with probes and no mala fide intent on their end.
ED paints a sharper picture, insisting Reliance Power drove the scheme through subsidiaries and executives fully in the know. Arrests of key finance figures like CFO Pal and consultant Dutta bolster the agency’s stance on internal collusion. With chargesheet in court, trial looms over whether this was top-down deceit or outsourced trickery gone wrong. The case spotlights risks in big-ticket green energy tenders, where guarantees underpin billion-rupee projects. As PMLA proceedings kick off, scrutiny falls on how Reliance navigates this amid past financial probes.
