New Delhi, August 23, 2025 — The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against Reliance Communications (RCom) and its promoter Anil Ambani over an alleged bank fraud causing losses of more than Rs 2,000 crore to the State Bank of India (SBI), officials said Saturday.
The agency is carrying out searches at Ambani’s residence and other premises linked to RCom as part of its probe, they added.
The action follows a complaint from SBI, which reported the entities as fraud on June 13 under the Reserve Bank of India’s Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management and the bank’s own policies. “On June 24, 2025, the bank reported classification of fraud to RBI, and is also in the process of lodging a complaint with CBI,” Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had noted in a written reply to the Lok Sabha last month.
SBI’s credit exposure to RCom includes a fund-based principal outstanding of Rs 2,227.64 crore, along with accrued interest and expenses from August 26, 2016, and a non-fund-based bank guarantee of Rs 786.52 crore, Chaudhary said.
RCom is currently under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016. Its resolution plan, approved by the Committee of Creditors, was filed with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai, on March 6, 2020, and NCLT approval is still awaited.
SBI has also initiated a Personal Insolvency Resolution Process under IBC against Anil D. Ambani, which is being heard by NCLT, Mumbai. The account and promoter had earlier been classified as ‘fraud’ on November 10, 2020, and a complaint was filed with CBI on January 5, 2021. However, the complaint was returned following a Delhi High Court ‘status quo’ order on January 6, 2021.
Following a Supreme Court ruling on March 27, 2023, in the case of State Bank of India & Others vs Rajesh Agarwal & Others, lenders are required to give borrowers an opportunity to respond before classifying accounts as fraudulent. Accordingly, SBI reversed the fraud classification on September 2, 2023, and later reclassified it after following due process as per RBI’s July 15, 2024 circular.
