The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted multiple raids in Mumbai and Delhi as part of an alleged Rs 3,000-crore loan fraud involving Reliance Anil Ambani Group companies and Yes Bank.

More than 35 premises, 50 companies and 25 individuals were covered in search operations undertaken by the ED under section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

According to reports, the raids were based on two FIRs filed by the CBI and inputs shared by agencies including SEBI, the National Housing Bank, Bank of Baroda, and the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA).

The case relates to loans sanctioned by Yes Bank  between 2017 and 2019. The ED is probing possible diversion of these loans to shell firms and other group entities. It is also investigating possible bribery behind the bank loans.

According to reports, the ED is probing alleged violations in Yes Bank’s loan approvals to Anil Ambani Group companies, including accusations of back-dated credit approval memorandums (CAMs) and investments proposed without proper credit analysis, violating the bank's credit policies. 

The other alleged irregularities being looked into include loans given to firms with weak financials, absence of due diligence, financial misreporting, companies sharing identical addresses and directors, and loan disbursals on the date of application or prior to sanction.

SEBI is also learnt to have shared its findings concerning Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) with the ED. RHFL's corporate loans reportedly increased from Rs 3,742.60 crore in FY 2017-18 to Rs 8,670.80 crore in FY 2018-19.

A few days ago, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told Parliament in a written reply that the State Bank of India had classified the loan account of Reliance Communications along with promoter-director Anil Ambani as “fraud” in accordance with RBI guidelines and was in the process of lodging a complaint with CBI.

Responding to the ED raids, Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure issued statements saying the actions will have no bearing on their “business operations, financial performance, shareholders, employees, or any other stakeholders” of the two companies. 

In separate regulatory filings, both the companies said they were “separate and independent listed” entities “with no business or financial linkage to RCOM or RHFL”.

The media reports appear to pertain to allegations concerning transactions of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) or RHFL, which are over 10 years old, the filings stated.

The group further stated that RCOM has been undergoing the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, since over six years. RHFL, meanwhile, has been fully resolved pursuant to a judgment by the Supreme Court. Similar allegations, as reported in the media, are sub-judice and currently pending before the Securities Appellate Tribunal, as per publicly available information, the statement said.

Further, Anil Ambani is not on the Board of Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure. Accordingly, any action taken against RCOM or RHFL has no bearing or impact on the governance, management, or operations of both the companies, it added.