The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted raids at more than 35 premises and searched 50 companies and 25 persons as part of its money-laundering investigation into industrialist Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group companies, ANI reported.

The investigation is based on two first information reports filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation on September 19, 2022, according to the Hindustan Times. The FIRs pertained to two separate loans given by the crisis-hit Yes Bank to Reliance Home Finance Limited and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited.

It has been alleged that loans of around Rs 3,000 crore received by the companies from the bank between 2017 and 2019 were illegally diverted, reported ANI.

“ED has found that just before the loan was granted, the Yes Bank promoters allegedly received money in their accounts,” the news agency quoted an unidentified official as saying. “ED is investigating this nexus of bribe and loan. ED has found gross violations in Yes Bank loan approvals to RAAGA [Reliance Anil Ambani Group] companies.”

According to the official, the Enforcement Directorate had found that the credit approval memoranda for the loans were backdated and investments were proposed “without any due diligence or credit analysis”.

A credit approval memorandum is a document used by lenders to outline the details and justification for approving a loan.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India, the National Housing Bank, the National Financial Reporting Authority and the Bank of Baroda had also shared information with the central agency about the companies.

The central agency was also investigating the “dramatic increase in corporate loans by Reliance Home Finance Limited”, from Rs 3,742.60 crore in the financial year 2017-’18 to Rs 8,670.80 crore in 2018-’19, the official added.

Following media reports about the raids, Reliance Power Limited and Reliance Infrastructure Limited stated that the central agency’s actions will have “absolutely no impact” on their business operations, financial performance, shareholders and employees.

The companies said that the allegations are likely related to transactions of Reliance Communications Limited or Reliance Home Finance Limited, with which they do not have any “business or financial linkages”.

They added that Anil Ambani was not on their board and “any action taken against RCOM or RHFL has no bearing or impact on the governance, management, or operations” of Reliance Power or Reliance Infrastructure.

This comes days after the Union government told Parliament that the State Bank of India had classified Reliance Communications and Ambani, its promoter-director, as “fraud”.