The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made its first arrest in the Rs3,000-crore loan fraud case linked to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group. Partha Sarathi Biswal, Managing Director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd, was taken into custody on Friday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, for allegedly arranging fake bank guarantees worth Rs68.2 crore on behalf of Reliance Power.
According to sources, Biswal submitted forged guarantees to the Solar Energy Corporation of India using spoofed email domains resembling those of the State Bank of India (SBI). His company, founded in 2019, allegedly received ₹5.4 crore from Reliance Power for arranging the fraudulent documents and operated multiple undisclosed bank accounts.
The ED noted that Biswal Tradelink lacked proper documentation and used dummy directors. Following his arrest, Biswal was remanded to ED custody until Wednesday by a special court.
This arrest follows a lookout circular issued against Anil Ambani on Thursday. The ED is investigating alleged diversion of loans amounting to Rs3,000 crore extended by YES Bank to Reliance Group firms between 2017 and 2019, suggesting possible quid pro quo involving bank promoters.
Since July 24, the agency has conducted extensive raids on over 50 firms connected to the case.
In a stock exchange filing, Reliance Power stated that the allegations relate to transactions involving Reliance Communications or Reliance Home Finance dating back over a decade.
