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Investigative portal Cobrapost has claimed to have uncovered a massive financial fraud of over ₹28,874 crore allegedly perpetrated by the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), led by industrialist Anil Ambani and his family. The alleged scam, brewing since 2006, involves the diversion of funds from six listed companies belonging to the group. The companies named in the investigation are Reliance Infrastructure Ltd., Reliance Capital Ltd., Reliance Communications Ltd., Reliance Home Finance Ltd., Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd., and Reliance Corporate Advisory Services Ltd. According to Cobrapost, the money siphoned off came from bank loans, IPO proceeds, and funds raised through bonds. Announcing the findings at a press conference on Thursday, Aniruddha Bahal, founder-editor of Cobrapost, said the revelations were based on a detailed analysis of regulatory filings, statutory orders, and other public records from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, SEBI, NCLT, and the Reserve Bank of India. Responding ahead of the press conference, the Reliance Group dismissed the allegations as “false, mischievous and motivated.” In a statement, the conglomerate said the so-called expose was “part of a corporate rivals’ campaign of calumny, disinformation, and character assassination.” Two listed group companies, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power, told the stock exchanges that the Cobrapost findings merely recycle “old publicly available information — misrepresented, distorted, and taken entirely out of context.” “The information referred to has long been examined by statutory authorities including the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, SEBI, and others,” the group said. In the press conference, Bahal was joined by Prashant Bhushan, Supreme Court lawyer and activist; Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, journalist and author; Abhinandan Sekhri, co-founder of Newslaundry; and Ushinor Majumdar, journalist and author. “The investigation establishes how funds raised from Indian banks and financial markets were siphoned off through a complex web of subsidiaries, shell firms, and offshore entities to the group’s holding company, Reliance Innoventure Pvt. Ltd.,” Bahal said. According to Bahal, ADAG companies used dozens of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and offshore firms based in the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, Mauritius, the US, the UK, and Singapore to route funds to the parent company. The alleged diversion was carried out through loans, debentures, and preference shares, which were later written off. Cobrapost further claimed that about US$ 1.53 billion (₹13,047 crore) raised abroad was routed into India through suspicious transactions — including US$ 750 million transferred by Emerging Market Investments & Trading Pte (EMITS), a Singapore-based firm — during a custody arrangement with Reliance Innoventure. Both EMITS and the intermediary entities were dissolved soon after the transfers, the report alleged, suggesting potential money laundering. With both domestic and offshore diversions combined, the total value of the alleged fraud amounts to over ₹41,921 crore, investigative journalist Bahal told reporters. The investigation also cited instances of extravagant personal spending, including the purchase of a US$ 20 million luxury yacht in 2008, allegedly funded through money diverted from Reliance Communications. ‘Public Interest’ Investigation Bahal defended the report, saying it was based entirely on official records and conducted “in the larger public interest.” He added that the findings would soon be submitted to relevant investigative agencies for further scrutiny. The alleged revelations are expected to intensify the ongoing debate over corporate accountability and regulatory oversight in India’s financial system. Published on October 30, 2025
