Reliance Capital's former CFO Amit Bapna arrested by CBI in loan diversion case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Amit Bapna, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Reliance Capital Ltd., in connection with its ongoing investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Amit Bapna, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Reliance Capital Ltd., in connection with its ongoing investigation into the alleged diversion of funds involving companies of the Reliance ADA Group. Bapna, who served as CFO of Reliance Capital between August 2014 and December 2019, was arrested on July 4 after being produced before a special CBI court in Mumbai. He was already lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail in judicial custody in a separate case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Read Full Story According to the CBI, Bapna was among the key decision-makers responsible for managing the financial affairs of Reliance Capital and allegedly played a crucial role in facilitating loans to intermediary and conduit companies despite being aware that such lending was contrary to the Reserve Bank of India's guidelines and the conditions governing borrowings from public sector banks.
The agency alleged that funds borrowed by Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) were diverted through intermediary entities to various Reliance ADA Group companies, including Reliance Capital Ltd., Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. and Reliance Power Ltd. The alleged diversion, the CBI said, resulted in wrongful losses to lending banks while conferring undue financial gains on the accused persons and related entities. CBI OBTAINED PRODUCTION WARRANT To secure Bapna's custody in the present case, the CBI obtained a production warrant from the Special Judge for CBI Cases in Mumbai. After he was produced before the court, the agency formally arrested him.
The court has remanded him to four days of CBI custody for further interrogation. The arrest is part of the CBI's broader probe into alleged financial irregularities involving multiple companies of the Reliance ADA Group. The agency has registered seven FIRs against Reliance Communications Limited (RCom), Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) and Reliance Telecom Limited (RTL) based on complaints received from several public sector banks and the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). According to the CBI, the cases relate to alleged criminal conspiracy, diversion of loan funds and financial fraud that caused significant losses to lenders.
The investigation into all seven cases is currently underway and is being monitored by the Supreme Court. Ends With inputs from Munish Pandey
The BriefWire