Reliance shares fall up to 10 pc after ED arrests Senior Executive

Mumbai: Shares of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group companies saw a sharp decline on Monday, with stocks falling up to 10.5 per cent during intra-day trade.

According to reports, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, a senior executive of Reliance Power, on Saturday in connection with an alleged fake bank guarantee and forged invoicing case.

At the closing bell, shares of Reliance Power was at Rs 46.10, down Rs 2.48 or 5.10 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

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Reliance Infrastructure also followed suit and dropped 4.5 per cent to Rs 231 per share. However, it recovered at the closing bell and end the trading session at Rs 238 apiece.

Pal has been sent to two-day custody and will be presented before the court today. He was interrogated for several hours before his arrest on Friday night.

The ED is investigating the matter under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), probing alleged financial irregularities and possible violations.

This development follows a major ED crackdown on July 24, during which searches were conducted at 35 premises linked to Reliance, involving 50 companies and over 25 individuals.

The ongoing probe stems from a money laundering case registered based on a CBI FIR, which alleged misuse of loans.

The role of Yes Bank, including its former promoters, is also under the scanner. The ED suspects that loans worth around Rs 3,000 crore, disbursed by Yes Bank between 2017 and 2019, were misused.

The investigation is reportedly based on information received from multiple regulators and financial institutions, including the National Housing Bank, SEBI, National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), and Bank of Baroda.

Investigators claim that Pal played a key role in diverting company funds and submitting fake bank guarantees worth over Rs 68 crore to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) with the intention to defraud a public sector entity.

Interestingly, October 10, Reliance Power shares had surged nearly 15 per cent on the NSE, hitting a day’s high of Rs 50.75 per share amid heavy buying and strong trading volumes.

Data shows that nearly 7 crore equity shares of the company were traded that day, compared to the weekly and monthly average of 2 crore shares.

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