New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will not grant any virtual appearance to Reliance ADAG Group Chairman Anil D. Ambani after the latter sought it in response to a summons sent by the investigative agency to appear before it for questioning in a money laundering case, according to sources Friday.
Anil Ambani skipped the ED summons to appear for the second round of questioning at the agency’s Delhi headquarters Friday (November 14).
As per ED sources, no virtual appearance will be given to Anil Ambani, as requested. The regulator, however, has received an email from him regarding his availability via virtual means.
Anil Ambani, in a media statement, said that he is “willing to offer to appear by virtual means”, adding that he will “fully cooperate with ED on all matters”.
The statement claimed that “ED summons to Anil D. Ambani relate to a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) inquiry and not to any matter under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)”.
The summons concerns a 2010 domestic EPC contract for the Jaipur–Reengus (JR) Toll Road and concerns issues associated with a road contractor, with no foreign exchange component, it said.
“Anil D. Ambani is not a member of the Board of Reliance Infrastructure. He served the company for about fifteen years, from April 2007 to March 2022, only as a non-executive director, and was never involved in the day-to-day management of the company,” it added.
The ED had summoned Anil Ambani again November 14 for questioning in the money laundering case against the conglomerate. He faced a gruelling, around nine-hour interrogation regarding an alleged Rs 17,000-crore loan fraud case at ED headquarters in August.
The financial probe agency had earlier attached 42 properties worth over Rs 3,083 crore in the bank fraud cases of Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd., and Reliance Home Finance Ltd.
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