ED arrests ex-RCOM president Punit Garg in Rs 40,000-crore bank 'fraud' case

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has arrested former Reliance Communications (RCOM) president Punit Garg on money laundering charges in an alleged Rs 40,000 crore worth bank loan fraud against group companies of businessman Anil Ambani. Garg was taken into custody on Thursday. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi sent him to nine days of ED custody, the federal probe agency said in a statement. Garg, ex-president and director of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), was arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation linked to an alleged over Rs 40,000 crore bank fraud and money laundering by RCOM and its group entities, the ED said. There was no immediate comment from the Reliance Group on this development. The agency, on Wednesday, had said it had attached shares and mutual funds in the name of Garg's wife. ''Garg, while holding senior managerial and directorial positions in RCOM over an extended period from 2001 to 2025, was actively involved in the acquisition, possession, concealment, layering, and dissipation of proceeds of crime generated from the said bank fraud,'' the ED claimed. The alleged laundered funds were ''diverted'' through multiple foreign subsidiaries and offshore entities of RCOM, it claimed.