Mumbai: Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani refused to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case for the second time on Monday. The businessman said he was ready to depose before the federal probe agency via “virtual appearance/recorded video”, at any date and time convenient to the ED.
He had earlier skipped the agency’s summons on Friday, reiterating the same request for a virtual deposition. The ED, however, rejected his request for a virtual deposition and issued a second summons, directing the Reliance ADA Group chairman to appear in person at the agency’s Delhi headquarters on Monday, November 17.
Senior officials said proceedings under FEMA are civil in nature, unlike the criminal procedures prescribed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The summons relates to a FEMA probe tied to 15-year-old inquiry into the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the Jaipur–Reengus (JR) Highway project. In 2010, Reliance Infrastructure awarded the EPC contract to Prakash Asphaltings & Toll Highways (PATH) for construction of the stretch, which was completed in 2013. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been operating the road for over four years.
The Agency suspect that around Rs 100 crore from the project was allegedly remitted abroad through the hawala route. The ED has already recorded statements of several individuals, including alleged hawala operators, before summoning Ambani.
In a statement issued on November 3, the agency said that Rs 40 crore from the 2010 EPC contract was siphoned-off through Surat-based shell companies and routed to Dubai. The ED suspects that this trail is part of a larger international hawala network estimated at over Rs 600 crore.
A Reliance ADAG Group spokesperson said the highway construction contract was a “purely domestic contract with no foreign exchange component”. The spokesperson also clarified that Anil Ambani is not a member of the Board of Reliance Infrastructure.
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Ambani was earlier questioned by the ED in a separate money laundering probe related to an alleged Rs 17,000 crore bank fraud involving group companies.
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