CBI conducts searches in Mumbai in Reliance Telecom case

The CBI has conducted searches at the residences of two former directors of Reliance Telecom and the company office after registering an FIR against them in connection with an alleged fraud of Rs 114.98 crore in State Bank of India, officials said on Thursday. The CBI has registered a case against M/s. Reliance Telecom Ltd., Satish Seth (then Director), Gautam B Doshi (then Director), unknown public servants and unknown others for offences of conspiracy, cheating under IPC and criminal misconduct and abuse of official position under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.  a CBI spokesperson said in a statement in New Delhi.
The agency acted on a complaint from SBI about it being defrauded and suffering a wrongful loss of Rs 114.98 crore,which alleged that the accused entities and individuals defrauded the bank, resulting in substantial financial losses. The SBI was part of a consortium of 11 banks that had collectively sanctioned a term loan facility of Rs 735 crore to Reliance Telecom Ltd, she said.
The latest action comes amid a series of ongoing investigations into alleged financial irregularities involving companies linked to the Reliance Group. In a related development earlier this month, the CBI questioned Reliance Group Chairperson Anil Ambani for nearly eight hours in connection with a separate SBI complaint involving an alleged Rs 2,929 crore fraud linked to Reliance Communications (RCom). According to officials, the case pertains to alleged misappropriation of loan funds and transactions that were in violation of lending terms. The accounts had earlier been classified as fraud by the bank, prompting investigative action, including searches at company premises and residences of key individuals.