3 min readNew DelhiMar 19, 2026 07:49 PM IST
The CBI on Thursday questioned industrialist Anil D Ambani for over eight hours in connection with the Rs 2,929.05 crore bank fraud case linked to his Reliance Communications Limited (RCom). The probe agency has directed Ambani to appear again on Friday for further questioning.
“The questioning took place at the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) headquarters, here (in New Delhi), where officials recorded Ambani’s statement regarding alleged diversion and misuse of loan funds obtained from a consortium of public sector banks. The case is part of a broader CBI investigation into suspected financial irregularities involving RCom and its former directors between 2013 and 2017,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
The CBI registered the first criminal case in this regard on August 21, 2025, based on a complaint from the State Bank of India (SBI) — the lead bank in a consortium of 11 lenders, including Bank of India, Central Bank of India, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank, and others. The banks had extended loans totaling Rs 19,694.33 crore to R Com, of which SBI alleged Rs 2,929.05 crore had been misused.
“The complaint followed a forensic audit that reportedly found large-scale diversion of bank funds through interlinked and circuitous transactions among Reliance Group entities. The audit suggested that these actions caused a wrongful loss to the lending banks,” the spokesperson said.
Following this, additional complaints were received from several other public sector banks, including Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Union Bank, UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra, prompting the registration of two more cases against RCom and its promoters.
The second FIR, filed on February 25, 2026, stemmed from a complaint by Bank of Baroda, which also represented exposures of the erstwhile Dena and Vijaya banks. Another FIR, registered on March 5, was based on a complaint from Punjab National Bank, which covered exposures from United Bank of India.
“Soon after the initial FIR, the CBI conducted searches on August 23, 2025, at two official premises of Reliance Communications and at Ambani’s Mumbai residence, after securing warrants from the Special CBI Court there. Investigators reportedly seized several incriminating documents and digital records during the operation,” the spokesperson said.
